Helen Ball lost her short battle with lung cancer on May 27, 2016. She was 92 years old. She was surrounded by her family as she left this life, much as she lived it, on her own terms. Upon being diagnosed with cancer in March of this year, she continued her life's activities just as she had in her days prior, up early retrieving the newspaper so she could attack the newest crossword puzzle. It was only the last week of her life that the cancer remanded her to bed.
Born on March 18, 1924, Helen was the oldest child of Borghild and Harold Vane. Both she and her brother Howard were born in Okanogan, Wash. Helen's father died when she was 5 years old and the small family moved in with her Norwegian grandparents. She was raised in Spokane where she married her first husband and gave birth to her first child, Cathrine Ann Pasquale. They later divorced.
On June 10, 1947, Helen married Francis E. Ball, and they had three children: Melanie, Steven and Cindy. Helen was a homemaker and Frank worked in the automobile sales business. They lived numerous places in Washington and Idaho, four of those years were spent in Moscow, where Frank worked for Fahrenwald Chevrolet. Together they had many adventures, they loved snowmobiling in the Silver Valley of north Idaho, they played golf and crafted together, and Helen spent countless hours working as a volunteer for many hospitals, as well as working as a house mother in her later years at the UI and WSU.
After 63 years of marriage, she lost Frank in April of 2010, and in 2012 she moved in with her daughter and son-in-law but continued living very independently, attending her exercise classes at Good Samaritan Village and utilizing their library, shopping, gardening and visiting friends. She is survived by her daughters, Cathy Vigue (and Phil) of Spokane, Melanie Mathson (and Les) of Pray, Mont., and Cindy Agidius (and Paul) of Moscow. She was preceded in death by her son, Steven, in 2010, her grandson Guy Vigue in 2015 and her grandson Jeff Vigue in 2004. She has 11 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved dearly.
Helen will be missed by all those who knew her, but her loving, independent spirit will remain with us always. At her request, there will be no service. Cremation has taken place and in lieu of flowers, as a voracious reader, she would encourage you to donate to children's literacy programs, any association that encourages smoking cessation or the Shriners Hospital for Children.
