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Leland Enos Ballard
Leland Enos Ballard passed on January 13, 2004, peacefully at his home in Ashland attended by his family.
Lee's life was a full engagement of the twentieth century and its various characters. Born in Dearing, KS, on March 21, 1909, he lived on farms around Coffeyville, KS where he grew up with the likes of Carl Hubbell as well as Pretty Boy Floyd.
He excelled at school in art, math, boxing, football, and baseball, eventually landing in the farm system of the New York Yankees where he played with Lou Gehrig (whom he admired) and Babe Ruth (whom he didn't). He started the first machinist union in Kansas City with John L. Lewis in the early thirties (through less than peaceful means). There he married Ruth Van Cleave in 1934 and had two children, Jerrelea and Leland Jr. He held down several jobs during the depression, one of which was in a restaurant where he daily served Harry Truman his lunch, inventing Harry's favorite sandwich (a daunting concoction of deviled ham, mayonnaise and sweet pickles).
Ever the inventor, he manufactured the first zipper and lane divider bumps as well as a non-combustion engine for automobiles (which GM purchased and immediately destroyed); several of his inventions are in the Smithsonian Museum. After the death of his first son, he and his family moved west right before the outbreak of WWII. He signed up for the National Guard and was involved in the capture of the only known Japanese reconnaissance sub to reach the California Coast. At the end of the war, he and Ruth had their third child, Ronald.
He started his own business in tool and die making and eventually became known as one of the finest such craftsman in America. He started businesses in Europe, Asia and Latin America. His business brought him in personal contact with Howard Hughes, Walt Disney, Dr. Seuss and The Beatles (his favorite was Paul).
His lifelong passion was service in the Masonic Order where he rose to the rank of a 32nd degree Mason and where he developed friendships with Clark Gable, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers at lodge meetings. An unpretentious man, he hardly ever spoke of his contacts with any of these people, preferring both the company and admiration of the people of character and honor he met in everyday life. He remained fully active, inventive, and mischievous until the time of his passing; the world has lost a twentieth century scrapper.
He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law (Hal), his son and daughter-in-law (Claudia), plus five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
His memorial service will be held at the Ashland Masonic Lodge, 570 Clover Lane, at 2:00 pm, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004.
Pearl A. Woods
Former Ashland resident, Pearl A. Woods, 90, of Grants Pass, Oregon, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Wednesday, January 14, 2004.
Tuesday, January 20, at Litwiller-Simonson Funeral Home in Ashland, there will be a viewing from 11 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. and a memorial service at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the First Baptist Church of Ashland in her memory.
Pearl was born November 17, 1913 in Rocky Ford, Colorado. She attended high school in Missouri and attended college in Kansas. On March 12, 1938, she married Stewart D. Woods, who survives. They moved from Missouri to northern California the same year they were married.
She worked as a cook in a hospital and in a lumber camp and as a nurse's assistant with special patients in John Day and Prairie City. She also worked part time during World War II nailing ammunition crates. She and her husband, Stewart, moved from John Day to Ashland in 1968. She went back to school and obtained a degree in education and taught in Phoenix, Oregon. She was a loving mother, wife, and later grandmother.
In addition to her husband, survivors include three children, Roy D. Woods of Lacey, WA, Marilynn Waldemar of Hesperia, CA, and Margaret Fern Cunningham of Grants Pass, OR; six grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Ruby Ann Miner
Ruby Ann Miner, 70, of Sweet Home, OR, died Thursday, January 15, 2004 at Farmington Square, Medford. Arrangements: Litwiller-Simonsen Funeral Home and Cremation Center, Ashland.
Barbara Jean Carnes
Barbara Jean Carnes, 68, of Ashland died Wednesday (Jan. 14, 2004) at Merle West Medical Center in Klamath Falls. There will be a funeral service at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004 at The Family Life Bible Church, Sixth and C Streets, Ashland. A graveside service will follow at Scenic Hills Cemetery, Ashland.
Mrs. Carnes was born on Dec. 26, 1935 in Percell, OK to Vernon and Ruby (Williams) Plaster.
In 1951, in Corona, California she married George Carnes, who survives.
Mrs. Carnes had been a homemaker during her life.
She was a member of the Choctaw Tribe of Oklahoma.
Mrs. Carnes enjoyed ceramics and cake baking. She was always very active in her church and had taught Sunday school for many years.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by her son, Vince Carnes of Ashland, OR; her daughter Jeannie Chapman of Ashland; two sisters, Sandy Van der Linden of Hemet, CA. and Estene Standback of Graham, Texas; and five grandchildren.
Marian Watt
Marian Watt, 91, died in Ashland on January 8, 2004. Busy and active until the last hours of her life, she had just taken a computer lesson, was working on a family genealogy and had a pot of chicken soup cooking on the stove when she suffered a stroke.
Marian Caroline Gary was born September 18, 1912 in Willamette (now West Linn), Oregon. Her father, Theodore James Gary, was the principal of Buckman School in Portland. Her mother, Marian Swanby Gary, had taught in one room schools. Marian had an older brother, Ted.
Marian attended Oregon State College (now OSU). She was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in education in 1934. After graduation, she taught high school in Canby, Salem and Portland for six years.
In 1940, Marian married Dr. Donald Crane Prentiss. They lived in Astoria, Oregon where he was a pathologist, and had two children, Carolyn and Charles. Donald died in 1943. Marian returned to OSC the next year to earn a Master's degree in nutrition.
In 1946, Marian moved with her children and her mother to Orange County, California, where she worked for seventeen years as a Home Advisor for the University of California Agricultural Extension Service. Following that, she lived in Riverside for 3 years, traveling as Regional Coordinator for home advisors in the southern third of the state. In 1968-9 and 1972-3, she worked in San Diego and San Bernardino implementing low income nutrition programs.
In 1969, Marian married Lawrence Archibald, who was a retired high school teacher and a grower of prize winning dahlias. They lived in Carlsbad, California until Larry's death in 1971.
In 1973, Marian married Robert H. Watt, a retired mink rancher, and moved to his family home in Bay City, Oregon. For the next fifteen years they enjoyed traveling in their motor home, hunting, fishing and providing good food and good cheer to family and friends. While in Bay City, Marian was active in the Methodist Church, Bay City Boosters, Shakespeare Club and other community activities.
Bob died in 1988 and in 1990 Marian moved to Ashland. Always looking for a way to learn or to help others, Marian participated in many activities of the Congregational Church and AAUW, volunteered at the Shakespeare Festival and the Community Health Center, participated in Drama Dialogues and the Age Wisely, Age Well program, took bridge and cross-country ski lessons, attended SOLIR classes, became a Master Preserver and traveled widely with Elderhostel, Friendship Force and friends.
Marian had a vivid memory and was "The Keeper of the Stories." She kept track of an enormous web of family, friends and acquaintances from the many chapters of her life. She was a genealogist and family historian and was busy updating a book about the five Watt brothers of Bay City when she died.
Marian Watt is survived by a daughter, Carolyn Prentiss, son-in-law, Craig Shaw, and granddaughter, Sara Prentiss-Shaw, of Ashland; son, Charles Prentiss, daughter-in-law, Nikki Silva, grandchildren, Carlos Prentiss, Kate Prentiss, Molly Prentiss, Grace Prentiss, and Sam Scott; in-laws, Dianne Ritner Prentiss and Ellen Creighton Scott; stepchildren Lorraine Ackley, Richard Archibald, Edward Archibald, Joan Ross, Phyllis Wustenberg, Barbara Dixon, and Robert M. Watt; sister-in-law, Gene Gary; and nieces, Phyllis Gary, Gail Lembke, Beth Tomasovich, Janice Kirkland, and Roberta Taylor.
A memorial service will be held at the Congregational Church in Ashland on Sunday, February 1 at 3 p.m. Wear something purple!
A celebration of Marian's life will be held June 27 at ArtSpace in Bay City, Oregon. Her ashes will be interred in the Bay City cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Northwest Medical Teams, P.O. Box 10, Portland, OR, 97207.
Arrangements: Litwiller-Simonsen Funeral Home and Cremation Center, Ashland, OR.
Elizabeth Rose Stanek
Elizabeth Rose Stanek died Jan. 13, 2004 at age 45.
Liz was born Jan. 26, 1958, in Oceanside, Calif. She moved to Ashland with her family in 1969 and graduated from Ashland High School in 1976. She lived in Ashland and Talent for most of her life, but worked in Portland, OR as a legal secretary in the early 1980s.
Survivors include her brothers, Rick, Chris, and Greg.
Graveside service is Jan. 25, 2004, 1 p.m., at Ashland Cemetery on Morton Street.
Remembrances, in lieu of flowers, can be made to Ashland Community Hospital Foundation.
