Barbara Courtney Ballard

Mrs. Barbara Azalee Courtney Ballard, 91, of V-8 Street and formerly of Charlotte passed away on October 30, 2008 at the Hospice House of Cabarrus County. She was a native of Chesterfield, SC, born on February 28, 1917, a daughter of the late Orin Butler Courtney and Kizzie Bell Mills Courtney. A homemaker and housewife, Mrs. Ballard was a loving Mother, gardener and friend to all who crossed her path. She truly had a zest for life and lived life to the fullest. She beat the odds with Alzheimer's and lived, not the projected 10 years, but an additional two years beyond that projection. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, Henry F. Ballard, Jr., who died in May 1978. Survivors include her three children, Betty Riddle-Marlow and her husband, Tony, and Barbara Bechtel all of Kannapolis, Shirley Adams and her husband, Michael, and a son, Tommie Ballard and his wife, Ana Gabriel-Ballard all of Charlotte. Also surviving are seven grandsons, Scott Riddle, Tommy Marlow II, Scott Bechtel, Rick Ballard, Wayne Jolly, Tony Jolly and Jeff Jolly; a great grandson, Brandon, and three great granddaughters, Jessica, Elizabeth and Karen, along with one great-great grandchild; and a sister, Geneva Moore, of Monroe. Funeral services for Mrs. Ballard will be conducted at Lady's Funeral Home Chapel at 4 p.m. Saturday, November 1, 2008. The Rev. Tommy Young will officiate. The family will receive friends prior to the service at Lady's Funeral Home from 2 until 3:30 p.m. Memorials for Mrs. Ballard may be directed to the Big Elm Retirement Center, 1310 Glenn Avenue, Kannapolis, NC 28081 or Coltrane Life Center, 321 Corban Avenue, SE, Concord, NC 28025.