Barbara (Somes) Ball died on October 22, 2010. She was born March 1, 1925 in Southwest Harbor, Maine on beautiful Mt. Desert Island, the home of Acadia National Park.
She married Russell Ball of Marblehead, MA on March 21st, 1948 and was married 62 years, participating in Russell’s YMCA career. She leaves her husband, Russell; two children, Raymond and Carolyn; their spouses Joyce and Merl; grandchildren, Kim and her husband Dave; Rod and his wife Olivia; and Matt; and great grandchildren, Ashlynn, Amanda, Matthew, Lindsay, and this year, Axl.
She obtained her RN from Deaconess Hospital in Boston and practiced at Deaconess. She knew Dr. Leahy and Dr. Eliot Joslin (of diabetes fame) who founded the hospital. During her early nursing years at Deaconess, there were no surgical wards per se, but she was often called to work with surgeons and take care of surgical patients. Barbara was a quiet advocate of family planning. She was also a dedicated volunteer for the Home for Little Wanderers.
As she moved with Russ through his Y career, she remained at home for a time, but always kept up her nursing license. She later worked as a school nurse, as a private duty nurse, and as the volunteer nurse for a YMCA camp while living in Connecticut. She also volunteered with the Red Cross on blood drives and for emergencies.
In retirement, Barbara had four major interests. She began to trace her genealogy. She traced her ancestors to the pilgrims of Plymouth and to the Salem witches, quite an amazing combination. She also put together the genealogy for her husband’s family and cousins. Another interest was computers. She was a “geek” beginning with her first Commodore 64 up to her Windows XP computer. She wrote programs on the Commodore and used it to keep track of the checkbook, long before Quicken. Even in the last week, she was on the computer to watch owls that were about to fledge. She was also a swimmer and swam over 5,000 miles at the East Bridgewater YMCA. Anyone who visited her knows she was an avid gardener of both vegetables and flowers.
Barbara will be remembered for her strong will, pride, and intelligence.
A memorial service for Barbara will be held Friday October 29 at 10 AM in the Blanchard Funeral Chapel Plymouth Street (Rt. 58 at the rotary) Whitman. Burial will be at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be designated to the East Bridgewater YMCA branch, Old Colony YMCA Development Office, 320 Main Street, Brockton, MA 02301 or online at http://www.oldcolonyymca.org/main/giving/donate_now/. Gifts in memory of Barbara may also be sent to New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing Alumnae Association Education Fund, C/O Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Office of Development, 330 Brookline Ave. Boston, MA 02215.