Gail “Sarge” Eugene Ballard, age 79, of Pearcy, went to be with his Lord and Savior, Sunday, September 4, 2016.
He was born on April 18, 1937 in Hamilton County, Illinois, the son of Robert Franklin Ballard and Hazel Adams Ballard. On January 1, 1957 he married Nancy Cella. He was preceded in death by his parents; five brothers, Edgar Ballard, Dawson Ballard, Raleigh Ballard, Phillip Don Ballard and Burtis Ballard; and three sisters, Vivian Adams, Pauline Johnson and Mildred English.
Gail graduated from McLeansboro High School in Illinois. In 1956, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the 82nd Airborne, the 11th Airborne and 101st Airborne and also served as an ROTC instructor at Washington University for 3 years. In 1963, Gail founded B & B Concrete and 50 years later retired to Hot Springs. He was a member of Hot Springs Baptist Church.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy Ballard of Pearcy; three sons and two daughters-in-law, Steven Eugene Ballard of Pearcy, Scott Jeffery and Shari Ballard of Columbia, Illinois and Michael Jason and Ashley Ballard of Pearcy; eleven grandchildren, Alex Ballard of Fayetteville, Joshua and Sarah Ballard of Columbia, Illinois, Jacob Ballard of Chicago, Illinois, Meg Ballard, Jeremiah Ballard, Elijah Ballard, Katie Ballard, Abigail Ballard, Madisson Williams, Alleigh Ballard and Abbigail Ballard, all of Hot Springs; two great-grandchildren, Isaac Ballard and Lyla Ballard, both of Columbia, Illinois; two brothers, Ed Ballard and Curtis Ballard, both of Peoria, Illinois; one sister, Mona Weaver of McLeansboro, Illinois; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of wonderful friends.
Services will be held at 10:00 AM, Tuesday, September 13, 2016 in the South County Baptist Church with Rev. John Hessel and Rev. John Childers officiating. Military honors will be provided by the U.S. Army. Interment will be in the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri at 11:30 AM. Visitation will be held 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Monday at the Kutis Affton Chapel, 10151 Gravois Rd., St. Louis, MO 63123. Pallbearers will be Jeremiah Ballard, Elijah Ballard, Joshua Ballard, Jacob Ballard, Bob LaBeau, Don Crancer, David Wingenbach and Danny Deters. Honorary pallbearers will be Elmer Deters, Fred Wingenbach, Ron Huckfeldt, Steve Lorenz, Scott Brooks and Jeff Breer.