Shirley Faye Ballard passed through heaven gates on July 29, 2023 at the age of 78. She was born in Lewisburg, Alabama on March 10, 1945, to James Mancel and IvaLee (McCrary) Pitts. Shirley grew up in Cullman, Alabama and then Snyder, Texas and attended Snyder High School. She accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior when she was a teenager at Calvary Baptist Church in Snyder.
While working at a local carpet mill, she met her sweetheart, Lee Ballard, in 1971, and they were married on October 6, 1971. She brought to their union two precious girls from her previous marriage to Robert Newton, and with Lee’s two sweet girls and the daughter they had together, they formed a beautiful family with five daughters that they nicknamed “Yours, Mine and Ours”. She and Lee owned their own floor covering business, Ballard Carpets, for 20 years and once they retired from that business they traveled the U.S. with her brother, Ron, and nephew, Mark, recycling railroad ties. Shirley’s favorite part of the job was learning about the different snakes that lived underneath the ties. She and Lee worked in a few more industries before they retired in 2009. They had celebrated 52 years of marriage when she passed.
In her retirement, she enjoyed putting together jigsaw puzzles, watching old westerns and Perry Mason episodes with Lee, and growing beautiful, hydrangeas, roses, and other flowers. She never missed a chance to celebrate a holiday with family and loved playing dominoes and Sequence. Shirley was also an accomplished pianist and enjoyed playing at church when she was younger and then at family gatherings later in life. Her grandchildren were the light of her life. She loved hearing about all of her chickadee’s latest escapades, but most of all, she loved telling them about Jesus.
Shirley is survived by her husband, Lee Ballard; daughters, Jackie Stafford, Shelley Arnold and husband Bruce, Shannon McElvany and fiancé, Shawn Ziegler, Angie Stewart and husband, Todd, Mindy Johnston and husband, Ronny; grandchildren, Chris, Misty, Roger, Dallas, Michelle, Courtney, Alicia, Sidney, J.C., Cameron, and Caden; siblings, Betty Lasley, Brenda Tribur and husband, Don, Larrel Pitts and wife, Kathy, and Ron Pitts; sister-in-law, Debbie Yarnell: brother-in-law, Darrell Ballard and wife, Betty; several great grandchildren; one great great grandson; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Randy Pitts; sisters-in-law, Patricia Pitts and Pat Pitts; brother-in-law, Terrell Lasley; and son-in-law, Roger Stafford.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 2, 2023 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas. Interment with immediate family will follow at Ridgeview Memorial Park, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
The service will be livestreamed at https://celebrationoflife.tv/blog/shirley-pitts-ballard. After the service, the recorded livestream will be available at the same link location.