Mary Jane Ball

Mary Ball, 72, Atchison, Kansas died Tuesday, November 28, 2017, at Vintage Park in Atchison.

Mass of Christian Burial will be Monday, December 4, 2017 at 10:00 A.M. at the St. Joseph's Church with Rev. Jeremy Heppler and Abbot Barnabas Senecal as celebrants. Interment will follow in Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Atchison, Kansas. Visitation with the family will be Sunday, December 3rd from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. at the funeral home. Memorial contributions can be made to St. Benedict Parish and the Amelia Earhart Festival, left in care of the Arensberg-Pruett Funeral Home.

Mary was born December 3, 1944, in Atchison, Kansas, the daughter of Herman and Dora (Glancy) Nass. She attended St. Joseph's Elementary and graduated from Mount St. Scholastica Academy in 1962. Upon graduation, she attended Strayer Business College in Washington, D.C., and then graduated from Kansas State Teacher's College in Emporia, Kansas.

Mary and her husband Terry "Butch" Ball were united in marriage on June 10, 1967, at St. Joseph's Church in Atchison. She and Butch moved to El Paso, Texas following their wedding and moved back to Atchison permanently in 1969 following Butch's honorable completion of his military commitment. Butch passed away on April 26, 2017.

Mary began her teaching career as a physical educator and coach at Mount St. Scholastica Academy in Atchison. She stepped away from teaching and found her passion as a stay at home mother as well as serving on a variety of committees as a volunteer. She was elected to the Atchison USD 409 Board of Education four times and proudly served the students and teachers from 1977 to 1993. June of 1992, she and her Butch moved the family business from 733 Commercial Street to the 500 Block of Atchison Mall where she began managing the Ball Brothers Gift Shop for 19 years. She officially retired when Ball Brothers closed in the Fall of 2011. During her time at Ball Brothers, Mary served on the Amelia Earhart Festival Committee and was the chairman of the Arts and Crafts Show. She did so for twenty years and "retired" after the 2016 Festival.

Mary was a member of St. Benedict Parish, where she participated in adoration and assisted with the church funeral luncheons. She served on the board of the Atchison Chamber of Commerce, as a member at Bellevue Country Club; as well as the Atchison Junior Guild for many years.

In her spare time, Mary loved to watch her sons and grandchildren play sports. She and Butch were members of The University of Kansas Williams Fund. They were passionate Kansas fans and spent many hours in the stands at Memorial Stadium and Allen Field House watching their beloved Jayhawks. They loved to travel and watch the KU basketball team play in Final Fours, the Maui Classic and to the Bahamas. ROCK CHALK!!

Survivors include two sons, Bradley (Anne) Ball of Olathe, KS and Chadwick (Carri) Ball of Wichita, KS; a brother, James (Winifred) Nass, Prairie Village, KS; a sister, Elizabeth Hutchinson, Vero Beach, FL; five grandchildren, Tanner, Avery, Lindsey, Maxwell and Addison Ball.