Edith L. Ballard

Edith Lucille Ballard, 81, of LaConner, formerly of Mason City passed away peacefully Sunday, April 10, 2011. Funeral services will be held 10:30 AM Saturday, April 16, 2011 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Mason City, Iowa with Rev. Jim Magelssen officiating. Interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 PM Friday at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Mason City. Memorials may be given to the Edith Ballard Memorial Fund.
Edith was born Dec. 20, 1929, in Hartley, Iowa, to Charles and Minnie Opkis, she was the third of six children. She graduated from Mason City High School in 1948. She studied bookkeeping at North Iowa Area Community College for a short time. She married Willis E. Ballard on Dec. 18, 1948. They had one son, Dale E. Ballard. Edith worked as a bookkeeper for Van Horn Auto Parts. After her marriage, she and Willis did custodial work for various businesses and Cerro Gordo County Courthouse. She also worked for Risto sewing leather goods. She was heavily into all kinds of sewing, knitting, tatting, crocheting, quilting and loved to go fishing. If it related to arts and crafts of any kind, Edie could do it. Edith was a volunteer at the food bank, but she most enjoyed her volunteer work as a foster grandparent at the local schools. A few years after the death of her husband, she moved to Mount Vernon, Wash., to be closer to her son and family. Later she moved to LaConner Retirement Inn in LaConner, Wash.
Survivors include a son, Dale and wife, Verna Ballard; three grandchildren, Jennifer (Charles) Bachmann, Michelle (Mark) McKay, and Keith Harbison; seven great grandchildren, Lindsey, Whitney, Cameron, Chase, Madysen, Wyatt, and Connor; one great great grandson, Landyn; two sisters, Margaret (Lloyd) VanHorn, Charlene Groven; and one brother, Alvin (Phyllis) Opkis.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Willis; sister, Cecil Terrance; and brother Vernon Opkis.

Memorials:
Edith Ballard Memorial Fund

Cemetery:
Memorial Park Cemetery

Visitation:
From 5:00 to 7:00 PM Friday at Major Erickson

Service:
10:30 AM Saturday at Trintiy Lutheran Church