1917-2008

We lost Nelly Virginia Ball on April 30, 2008. She was our sister, aunt, great-aunt, cousin and friend, and we miss her very much. She was born on January 5, 1917, in a Helena, Mont., maternity home. Because of the heavy winter snows, it was several days before her parents, Lee Gordon Ball and Bertha Bell Flannery Ball, were able to make their way home. Home was the “Ball Farm” near Missoula, Mont. Anxiously awaiting her arrival were Grandpa and Grandma Ball, her brother Wes, uncles Sterling and Ray and their wives, and one special Aunt Lucy, and many cousins -- all boys. She immediately became Sister or “Sis” to all of them.

Times were hard in the period of WW1. There were many panics, which we now call recessions, in the economy. Cattle prices fell and wheat sold for so little that it didn’t pay to buy the seed. This made it impossible for the entire family to remain on the farm. So, the three brothers moved their families off of the farm to make their own way. Nellie, now called Virginia or Sister, and her family homesteaded in the far northwest corner of Montana near Libby.

Her mother often recalled it the loneliest, isolated and worrisome time in her life. Virginia remembered how “scary” she felt, when each morning during the school year her mother would lift her up onto “Ol’ Molly,” their most gentle horse. She would push her up close to her brother, give Molly a slap and send her up the trail for a seven-mile trip to school. Her mother would counter with her most anxious time between three and four in the afternoon. It was then that she would stand at the kitchen window, looking down the trail waiting to get a glimpse of Molly. Even in the stormy times, Molly delivered her precious cargo to the back door, and waited for Wes and Virginia to slide down off her back.

There came a time when the recession slipped into a depression. The grain and timber that the family could produce found prices so meager that they could not survive. Lee and his family joined his brother Sterling’s family and they headed for California. By that time, Wes and Virginia had been joined by a new brother, Stanley. They all remember the trip as an adventure; especially when they were stranded in the middle of eastern Oregon. When they couldn’t find enough wood for a fire to cook their evening meal over, their mother, Bertha, had to give up her most prized possession, a wide-brimmed black hat with a bow and beautiful veil to start the fire.

Virginia’s family arrived in Northern California to be greeted with good news. There was a government survey crew working along the Humboldt-Del Norte coast. Her father, having been employed in surveying work in Montana, was able to secure employment. When the survey was completed, he was able to find a job in the woods for the Bullwinkle Lumber Company in Crannell. It was here that Virginia was happy to attend a new school with individual classes. She loved school and progress so quickly that she skipped a grade. Here, also, the family welcomed a new member, Irma Lee. This paradise was short-lived however. One day, when her father arrived for work, a notice was posted on the office door that the operations would be closed down, and they were given notice to vacate their housing.

The family found housing near the Mad River Bridge and Virginia was entering Arcata High School. A large yellow bus picked up the children, and delivered them to school each day -- a big change from “Ol’ Molly.” She loved high school life even more than elementary school; it meant changing classes, and becoming more independent. She immediately discovered that business classes were most interesting.

Later, the family moved to Eureka. She continued her interest in business classes, and graduated in three and a half years. Since college was out of the question due to lack of finances, she began job hunting. Eventually, she found a part-time job in the credit department of the Montgomery Ward store at the grand salary of $.29 an hour. Later, she was advanced to full-time on a monthly salary of $72.00, and she felt truly lucky.

She was fortunate to advance to better jobs, at better pay. Her most enjoyable positions held, were at Hammond Lumber Company in Samoa, Belcher Abstract and Title Company, and Ernest Freeman insurance company. It was at the Freeman agency, that Mr. and Mrs. Freeman introduced her to investing in stocks. She eagerly listened and learned. As she was able to, she slowly invested. It proved to be a very successful lifelong venture. She turned to many other fields of interest, and used the same methods of learning, listening, reading, and then doing. The whole family loved to travel. They camped at many state and national parks, and studied about the beauties of Yellowstone, Crater Lake, The California Missions, Tahoe, and Yosemite. Soon after President Nixon established relations with China, she traveled to Asia with stops in Hawaii, Japan, and China. If she couldn’t interest families in a trip, she joined a group of strangers and came home with new life-long friends. Trips to New Zealand, Australia, and once again, Hawaii, brought a new and enduring experience. While in Hawaii, a visit to the University of Hawaii’s Experimental Orchid Center piqued her interest in growing orchids. She soon had dozens of varieties of Orchids on her sun porch. Often the ringing of her front doorbell would deliver someone with a wilted, sickly-looking orchid plant. Invariably, the conversation would be: “I was told you would know how to treat my orchid, would you try?” Virginia would, of course, say yes. As the person would turn to leave, Virginia would ask for her phone number, so she could return the plant when it was healthy. The reply would be, “You keep it. I know it will be healthy.”

On trips to Europe, Virginia combined a newly found interest in family genealogy, looking for ghosts in castles, and kissing the Blarney Stone. She spent many hours searching through church baptismal records, voter records, and passenger ship records in civil buildings seeking the family names of Montgomery, Ball, Gordon, and Flanery.

During all of these pursuits, she maintained the lifelong interest in collectibles and antiques. So, you might have found her at the Sunday flea markets, the Lolita Antique Show, or traveling up the Oregon Coast with stops at every junk store or antique shop around. She and her niece-in-law, Candy Watts, shared this interest; so a visit to Candy and Kevin’s house in Eugene meant hours of “junking”.

Virginia seldom slowed down until her 90th year, when she started her residence at Mrs. Frye’s Care Home. She worked in her garden, kept the house, and did her 25-30 loops of walking around her backyard. She was always ready to visit a casino with her sister-in-law Colleen Ball, and her nephew David Ball, to try her luck at a slot Machine.

Virginia is survived by her sister, Irma Ball Watts, her nephews Dan Ball (Moselle), Kevin Watts (Candy), Dave Ball (Kathy). She also leaves grand-nieces Stacy Ball Elliott (Mike), Jamie Watts Congedo (Jeff), and Laurie Watts; grand-nephew Darin (Angelina) and many friends.

A family gathering was held in her honor. Anyone wishing to make a memorial donation might do so to:

• Eureka Senior Center
• Relay for Life
• Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon
  3975 Mercantile Drive, Ste. 154
  Lake Oswego, OR 97035.