Thomas Henry Ballard, Jul 3, 1935 - Dec 13, 2017

BALLARD, ANDERSON, FALK, GAMBINO, OSBORNE, VANBRAMER

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 3/11/2018 at 17:36:50

Private graveside services for Thomas H. Ballard, 82, Versailles, Mo., will be held in the Evergreen Cemetery, Red Oak. He died Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2017, at the Good Shepherd Care Center, Versailles.

Arrangements are by Scrivner-Morrow Funeral Home, Versailles.

Thomas Henry Ballard was born July 3, 1935 in Red Oak, a son of Mervin D. Ballard and Dorothy E. Anderson Ballard.

On July 4, 1958, he married Carolyn J. Falk of Stanton. She survives at their Versailles home.

He was a graduate of Red Oak High School in Red Oak. He enrolled in the University of Iowa, Iowa City, earning a bachelor of science degree in biology and a varsity letter in track and field. After graduation, he served his country as a helicopter pilot in the United States Navy for five years. Most of his service was flying helicopters from an icebreaker in Antarctica. During his time in the Navy, the couple started their family, having daughter Rebecca and son Timothy.

With his young family in tow, he next received his Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine degree from Lincoln College in Indianapolis, Ind. Following graduation from Lincoln, the Ballard family relocated to Williamsburg to begin Tom’s Chiropractic career. For more than 30 years he served the Amana area at the chiropractic clinic which he founded. Over these years he helped countless patients with medical issues using chiropractic and acupuncture treatments. Following retirement, he and Carolyn relocated to Versailles.

Throughout his life, he was active in his community and enjoyed sports and many outdoor activities including camping, bow hunting, fishing, biking, snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. Friendly and thoughtful, he enjoyed spending time with family and friends.

In addition to his wife of 59 years, he is survived by a daughter and her family, Rebecca J. Ballard and Tony Gambino, Gravois Mills, Mo.; grandchildren, Angela Gambino and Melissa Osborne, Chicago, and Tony Gambino II, Albuquerque, N.M.; great-grandchildren, Mallorie, Michael, Talen, and Olive; Tom’s son and his family, Timothy and Leslie Ballard and grandchildren, Nathan H. and Sarah K. Ballard, all Portland, Ore.; Tom’s sister and her family, Judith and Peter VanBramer and their children, Wendy Van Bramer, Thailand, and Dennis VanBramer, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.; Tom’s brother and his family, Dennis and Rita Ballard, Sturgeon, Mo., and their children, Thomas Mark Ballard, Columbia, Mo; Carey Ballard, Ridgeway, and Co and Michael Scott Ballard of Gainesville, Ga.

The Journal Tribune, 20 Dec 2017, pg 8