Betty Ann Ball Bolle

RICHMOND, Ind. – Betty A. Ball Bolle, age 87, of Richmond, died Sunday, March 2, 2014, at her residence in Fort Myers, Florida. Betty was born to Jiles A. and Ruth G. (Waggoner) Duncan on February 20, 1927 in Worthington, Indiana. She grew up in a close-knit family near the "Duncan Corner" of southeastern Clay County where they had lived for a century. Her sister and cousins who all lived nearby, called themselves the "Duncan girls" and were life-long friends. She graduated from Jasonville High School and from Indiana University in 1949 with at degree in library science. She was a loyal IU alumna, basketball fan, and supporter of IU East for which she hosted events in Florida. She began her career in Sidney, Ohio in 1949 and was later recruited to become Director of Libraries for Connersville, Indiana schools. There, she formed one of her many groups of devoted friends and met her first husband, Francis E. Ball with whom she shared 26 happy years in Kokomo and Richmond. With "F", she had her two loving sons Charlie and David. After her family moved to Richmond in 1978, she returned to teaching and was librarian and media specialist at Fairview Elementary and at Test Middle School from which she retired in 1991. She became known for the creative events she organized and for the life lessons she taught—to students and colleagues. After her first husband's sudden death in 1983, she had ten years on her own as she watched her sons launch into adulthood. She formed a close group of female friends at Central United Methodist Church. She was a special friend to Mary Lou Bolle, whom she supported during her battle with terminal bone cancer. After seeing the loving way in which she cared for his wife, Fred Bolle married Betty and she welcomed Fred's four children and their families in to her heart as her own. The twenty-third anniversary of that marvelous marriage would have been on March 9. Betty had a remarkable ability to form caring friendships and she opened her heart and her home to countless people. She was a gracious hostess and an excellent cook, planning parties and events through the last days of her life. An avid gardener, she will be remembered for years as her gardens bloom. In Richmond, Betty was an extremely active member and Stephen Minister at Central United Methodist Church and belonged to Petal and Stem Garden Club, Tri Kappa Sorority, and the Tourist Club. In Florida, she belonged to PEO, Fort Myers Woman's Community Club and New Hope Presbyterian Church. Betty and Fred were instrumental in organizing several successful golf tournaments for the American Cancer Society in Richmond. She entered Hospice immediately after her diagnosis and spent nearly a year under their care in Richmond and Fort Myers, becoming a vocal advocate for that program. Survivors include her husband, Frederick J. Bolle, to whom she was married in 1991; two sons, Charles T. Ball and fiancée Linda Lu Jones of Louisville, Kentucky, and David J. Ball and partner Dennis Ferry of Chicago, Illinois; four step-children, Christopher J. (Alice) Bolle of Greenville, South Carolina, Gregory J. (Karen) Bolle of Richmond, Janet (Bob) Carl of Union, Kentucky, and Karen (Rich) Wyderski of Winston-Salem, North Carolina; seven step-grandchildren, Jay and Nick Bolle, Alex and Josh Carl, Amy (Greg) Wright, Paula Cathey, and Roxanne (Scott) Walls and ; 5 step-great-grandchildren, Cameron and Wesley Wright, Zakary Watt, Addison Wren Wallace, and Cayden Gunter; and the countless friends and other relatives who form her "family." She was preceded in death by her first husband, Francis E. Ball; parents; and sister, Hilda G. Harrison. Visitation for Betty A. Ball Bolle will be from 4 to 7:00 p.m. Saturday, March 8, 2014, at Doan & Mills Funeral Home, 790 National Road West, Richmond. Funeral service will be at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, March 9, 2014, at Central United Methodist Church, 1425 East Main Street, Richmond with Rev. Charlie Black officiating, with a reception to follow at Friends Fellowship Community in the Community Room. Private burial will be in Earlham Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Ball-Bolle Endowment Fund of the Wayne County Foundation whose income supports the wide variety of charitable causes about which Betty cared, 33 South 7th Street, Richmond, IN 47374, Reid Hospice or Hope Hospice, 9470 HealthPark Circle - Fort Myers, FL 33908. Condolences may be sent to the family via the guest book at www.doanmillsfuneralhome.com.