Ureay Gene Ballard

Ureay Gene Ballard, faithful husband, father, son, brother, grandfather, and great-grandfather left us on March 10, 2024, at the age of 92. On July 9, 1931, during the great depression, Ureay was born in a cabin on a family-owned mountaintop called "Chestnut Stand" near the town of Irvine, Kentucky. He was the third of four children and was raised by his father and older sister after his mother passed away when he was four years old. Ureay learned to hunt rabbits and other game, as well as to raise vegetables. He sold his first bushel of turnips, which he grew himself, for $2 when he was around eleven years old. Around that time his Grandfather, who kept bees, gave him his first beehive. Since then he has been an avid beekeeper and supplier of honey for 81 years, ultimately growing his bee population to over 200 hives in five locations. Ureay paid his way through college by working as a mechanic at a gas station, back when gas stations also repaired cars. After graduating college with a degree in accounting he worked as a U.S. government auditor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA). He was assigned as an auditor to Hayes Aircraft Corporation in Birmingham, Alabama where he met his wife of 68 years, Hazel Ozelle Ballard. Over his career Ureay worked his way up to executive management of DCAA in Washington, D.C.. Ureay and Hazel have lived in Alabama, New York, Mississippi, Virginia and Texas. Hazel left us last year when she passed away in August 2023. Together they raised three children. Ureay, or "Gene" as his immediate family and friends know him, loved telling jokes and riddles, including "If you can't be good be better", and "If a chicken and a half costs a dollar and a half, how much would ten chickens cost?" He loved to play checkers and passed his skills and strategies along to his grandchildren at weekly family dinners. He was one of a kind and will never be forgotten. Ureay lived a good long life and affirmed that he believed the claims of the Bible as a Christian. When he was young he had wanted to become a pastor, and he said "Life is a Miracle". Left behind are his children Larry, Elaine, and Lowell, daughter-in-laws Donna and Heather, son-in-law Christopher, grandchildren Chris, Kimberly, Gregory, Noah, Levi, Hannah, Caleb, Esther, Josiah, Abigail and Elijah, granddaughter-in-laws Emily, Lily, and Madisyn, future granddaughter-in-law Payton Ashley, great-grandchildren Lincoln, Oliver, Wesley, Nora and Xahlia, and Neil Witt, his nephew, with whom he was raised like a brother. A funeral service is scheduled for 10 AM on Friday, March 15th at the Addison Funeral Home, 18630 Kuykendahl Road, Spring, TX 77379.

Ureay Gene Ballard

July 9, 1931 - March 10, 2024