Memorial services for Richard "Pat" Ball were held at the Twin Oaks Avenue Baptist Church in Citrus Heights on May 24th and at 2:00 p.m. at Union Creek Lutheran Church in rural Akron, SD on Thursday, May 31st. Pat was interred at the Union Creek Cemetery with military honors performed by the Alcester VFW Post 6149. Surrounded by his family, Richard E. (Pat) Ball passed away in Roseville, CA on May 2l, 2007 at the age of 77 years. Pat was born in Akron, IA on Feb 19, 1930 to Harriett (Kelly) and Richard Ball. He attended Pleasant Hill School and graduated from Akron High School in 1947. He was confirmed into the Lutheran Faith at Union Creek Lutheran Church. Pat married Audery Hongslo on July 18, 1950 in Alcester, SD. He farmed until 1951 when he went into the Army. He was wounded while serving in Korea where he received a Purple Heart. When he was discharged from the Army, he returned to farming and farmed until 1961. They moved to Beresford, SD where he worked on road construction for a period of time. The family moved to Citrus Heights, CA in 1962. He was superintendent of Sylvan Cemetery in Citrus Heights for 12 years. At the time he was hired, the cemetery was very poorly maintained and also, being the oldest cemetery in Citrus Heights, many burial sites were unmarked. He was proud that he developed the cemetery into a place of beauty and he also located the names for the unmarked sites. He then went to McClellan AFB where he was an Equipment Mechanic until he retired in 1993. Pat is survived by Audery, his wife of 57 years, and two sons, Michael and his wife Tina, Mena, AR and Justin and his wife LoriAnn, Citrus Heights, CA, and two daughters, Rita, Citrus Heights, CA and Jeanne and her husband Dan, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, his seven grandchildren, Jarrett Ball, Sarah Ball, Marshall Ball, Caitlin Sharkey, Kieran Sharkey, Clare Sharkey and Kaleigh Sharkey, his sister Sharon VanWhye-Paulsen and her husband John, sisters-in-law Cleo Clark and husband Jay and Gail Walton and her husband Robert, and many nieces, nephews and friends. His parents and his brother, James, preceded him in death.