Mary Alice Ballard, 70, died at her home at Stonebridge Place, in Sulphur, LA, on Monday, December 25, 2017, as a result of congestive heart failure. She was born in Eunice, Louisiana and grew up in Baton Rouge and Lake Charles. Mary Alice graduated from LaGrange High School in Lake Charles, and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. Mary Alice will be remembered as a special mother, teacher and friend. She created a comfortable, attractive home where her sons and their friends loved to hang out after school and their many sports events. Later in life, she relished every opportunity to spend time with her grandchildren. Mary Alice taught kindergarten and special education in Bogalusa, Lafayette, and Sulphur, LA, for over 20 years, providing positive education experiences to hundreds of children. She later moved to Renton, WA, where she taught special education for physically and developmentally challenged children. She loved the children and appreciated their unique personalities and gifts. Mary Alice was a person that made friends easily and stayed in touch with those friends, even as their journeys and hers took them in different directions.
Mary Alice was preceded in death by her parents Rev. James L. and Alice Mills Stovall, and her husband, Milo Ballard. She is survived by her sisters, Sally Stovall and Carol Broussard, and her brother James L Stovall, II; by her sons Christopher John Richard and Michael James Richard and his wife, Diana Fradin Richard; and by her 5 grandchildren, Katelyn Richard, Brant Richard, Lauren Richard, Shalom Richard, and Dahlia Richard.
Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, December 30, 2017 at Henning Memorial United Methodist Church in Sulphur. Rev. Jim Stovall and Rev. Austin Rinehart will officiate. Burial will follow in Mimosa Pines Cemetery in Carlyss. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday at Hixson-Sulphur Memorial Funeral Home and 9 – 11 a.m. Saturday at the church. Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.hixsonfuneralhomes.com
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