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Trelby 'TJ' Ball

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[February 06, 2008]  Trelby James "TJ" Ball, 89, of Lincoln, died Monday, Feb. 4, 2008, at 4:40 a.m. at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital after a brief struggle with pneumonia.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Lincoln Christian Church, with a Masonic service at 7:45. His funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the church, with Tim Searby officiating.

Burial, with military rites, will be in New Union Cemetery.

Mr. Ball was employed at the Lincoln post office as a mail carrier and clerk for nearly 30 years. After retiring from the postal service, he drove a school bus for the Chester-East Lincoln school district for several years.

He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and the Korean War and retired from the Illinois National Guard with the rank of major.

He was born Sept. 29, 1918, in Forbes, Mo., to Albert Franklin and Georgia Wilma Cullen Ball. He called Lincoln his home, as he lived here most of his life. He married Dorothy E. Rhoads on May 29, 1943, in Fort Riley, Kan. His loving wife preceded him in death on July 11, 2005.

He is survived by one son, James L. (and Anita) Ball of Danville, Calif.; two daughters, Jan (and Ronald) Betzelberger of Lincoln and Christie (and Don) Lemme of Lincoln; two brothers, Dale (and Peggy) Ball of Daytona Beach, Fla., and Robert Ball of Iberia, Mo.; three sisters, Martina Hertz of Riverview, Fla., Sandra (and Norman) Zeter of Albuquerque, N.M., and Barbara (and Wayne) Lolling of Lincoln; six grandchildren, Carrie Allison of Albuquerque, N.M., Shaun (and Juliet) Betzelberger of Holland, Mich., Lori (and Molham) Weir of Larchmont, N.Y., Leigh (and Mark) Meyering of Napa, Calif., Katelyn Lemme of Lincoln and Tristan (and Scott) Lemme-Brosamer of Lincoln; and eight great-grandchildren.

He was a lifelong member of the First Christian Church of Lincoln, where he served on the church board for many years and was chairman of building and grounds.

He served on the Logan County Cemetery Board and was an active member of the Lincoln Kiwanis. He was a 32nd-degree Mason and member of the Scottish Rite at Lincoln Masonic Lodge 210. He was also a member of the Ansar Shrine and White Shrine of Jerusalem.

He was a graduate of Lincoln College.

Mr. Ball spent the last five years of his life at the Lincoln Christian Nursing Home, where he fought a valiant but losing battle with Lewy body disease, which is similar to Parkinson's disease.

He will be remembered by all who knew him as a kind and gentle man with a perpetually cheerful disposition and a wry sense of humor.

Memorials may be made to The Christian Village, Lincoln Christian Church or the Appel Scholarship.

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