"What a sad news. I was thinking of Dr. Ball lately, and in the recent past I had sent out an email or two to him with no response. Today, I found out that he passed away. He was my professor at NMU who became my friend that I respected and consulted all the time. He was my mentor and teacher on various research projects and independent study classes I took with him. He had a stern and commanding voice that often confused people to think he was tough, but in reality he was an amazing sweet and caring person with lots of compassion. He always spoke his mind and was courageous and bold when it came to political discussions. Even though I am thousands of miles away from the US I will miss him. I was planning to visit NMU to see him on my next trip to the US- but God had different plans. My condolences and prayers for his family. May God bless Dr. Ball's soul. RIP"
In loving memory of
Dr. WILLIAM R. BALL
January 2, 1944 - December 6, 2018
Dr. William Robert Ball, Ph.D., professor of political science and public administration at Northern Michigan University, passed away peacefully on Thursday, December 6. He was born January 2, 1944 in Evanston Illinois, son of Leeland Ball and Mary Ball.
Bill is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Phannee Ball; two children, William R Ball Jr. and Mary Edna Sowder; four grandchildren, Donald J Feutz, William R Ball III, Gary G Feutz, and Bryce A Ball; one great-grandchild, Jaden Feutz; and his younger brother, Richard Ball.
He was a former student at Evanston Township High School and Kendall College in Chicago. He was drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, where he received the Purple Heart. After the war, he worked as a truck driver for a moving company and UPS in Chicago. After hurting his back working for the moving company, he decided to go back to school. He earned his BA degree in history from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. He went to Loyola Law School but then went to Northern Illinois University (NIU), DeKalb, where he earned his masters in political science. While continuing at NIU, DeKalb, he worked at Del Monte as the migrant workers camp coordinator, a custodial engineer for several financial institutions, and a teaching assistant at NIU and Waubonsee College. He also taught at Kiswaukee College. While attending Northern Illinois University, Bill met his wife Phannee in 1978 and married her in 1982.
After earning his Ph.D. degree at NIU, Dr. Ball joined the Northern Michigan University (NMU) faculty in the fall of 1988. He had a long and distinguished career. In 1993, he was nominated for the NMU Distinguished Faculty Award, given the Excellence in Teaching Award, and was recognized by the American Political Science Association as "One of America's outstanding political science teachers."
Dr. Ball was known as an engaging teacher. He was well known as a conservative libertarian professor who took a Socratic approach, challenging his students to do more research on political science subjects and issues that interested them. He was known as a teacher who cared about his students. He was respected as a teacher who promoted the importance of responsible citizenship and active political participation.
Almost every summer for over 20 years, he taught classes in Thailand at Bangkok University. He also served as a consultant for several other schools in Thailand.
Bill Ball was the faculty adviser and professor for the Model United Nations (UN) club and class. This year in Chicago at the Model UN Conference, NMU students earned several awards for distinguished resolutions and outstanding performance. Student leaders claim they owe their success to their hard work, but also to Dr. Ball's inspiration and leadership.
Dr. Ball was known best for having marched and sat in jail with Dr. Martin Luther King in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963.
Aside from teaching, Bill had many loves. He loved sports including golfing, fishing, and watching football. He was a faithful Chicago Bears fan and liked other professional Chicago teams as well. He loved traveling for the sun, sand and sea to places like Hawaii, Cancun, Bahamas and especially to Southeast Asia countries like Thailand, Laos, China, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea and Malaysia. Bill enjoyed frequenting casinos with his wife, playing card games and slots. He won a poker tournament at the Island Casino in Escanaba. He liked playing strategy computer games. He loved McD coffee and dark beer like Guinness. He enjoyed painting. He was a long-time Republican. He enjoyed helping others in need.
Visitation will be held on Monday, December 17, 2018 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm at the Canale-Tonella Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held at 5:30 in the funeral home with Rev. Leon Jarvis officiating. Military Honors will be provided by the Vietnam Veterans of America Negaunee Chapter.
Bill will be forever missed by his beloved wife and family, as well as by numerous friends, colleagues, and students. Having had many canine companions Bill was a dog lover to say the least, as such in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to UPAWS in Dr. Balls memory at upaws.org, PO BOX 968, Marquette, Michigan 49855.
Dr. Balls obituary may also be viewed at canalefuneral.com where memories may be shared.
Tributes
""Show me how this benefits me" so true. 16 years have passed and I can still hear his voice saying these exact words with a smile."
"Today, I was about to quote Dr.Ball one something he said on the first I had day of class with him. I googled him to see how he was doing and it led me here. "Common sense is uncommon. People do things based on rational self-interest. Show me how this benefits me." You told me this in 2012. Thank you Dr. Ball for being my favorite college professor. Rest Easy"
"This news saddens me. Dr. Ball had a big impact on my time at NMU. Some very practical life lessons were taught in his class room in addition to the core academic content. Dr. Ball without hesitation also wrote a letter of recommendation for applying to graduate school. One significant story I would like to share was how Dr. Ball saved my (future) wife's life... Dr. Ball would occasionally make reference to his military service during Vietnam. A memorable detail of these references, was how he had contracted malaria. He also went on to state that the form of Malaria he has can go dormant (for years) after treatment and then rear its ugly head unexpectedly. Although the dormancy is possible, the actually occurrence of dormant malaria is extremely rare. Flash forward several years, and my soon-to-be fiance (now wife) and I are visiting my family in Wisconsin around the holidays. Within a day my wife becomes horribly ill, ill to the point I had to carry her out of the house and drive to the emergency room. They put her on an IV and gave her some medicine to calm her fever, but basically chalked up her condition to the flu or food poisoning. My wife's condition continued to deteriorate and the reality of the scenario was setting in. I had informed my wife's family of the situation and had to put my faith and trust in the medical system, but things were not adding up. While quietly waiting in the emergency room I tried to think of all possible conditions that could be at fault. It is at this moment that I remembered Dr. Ball's comments about dormant Malaria. It is not long before the MD on duty circles back to my wife's room to check on her condition. I inform the MD that I would like to have a malaria test done on a blood sample immediately and that several years prior my wife was a Peace Corp volunteer in Ghana. The MD looks at me like I'm stupid and should not be directing medical care. Mind you, there is two feet of snow on the ground and we are probably 3000 miles from the nearest mosquito carrying malaria. I push back and insist the test is done. Within a few hours we have the results confirming malaria and now have direction for immediate treatment. If another 24 hrs would have passed my wife would most likely have died in the hospital. I credit Dr. Ball sharing his life experience in the class room 100% with saving my Wife's life. My deepest condolences to Phannee and family."
"Dr Ball will be greatly missed. I was fortunate enough to have taken all his classes during my studies at NMU and I loved his provocative teaching style and how he encouraged discussion. Anyone who took the time to speak with him one-on-one knew that his curmudgeon style was just an act. Such a kind and thoughtful educator, he truly encouraged us all to strive towards our untapped potential. NMU lost a unique asset but his memory will live on. Thoughts and prayers with his family."
"When I heard of his passing, my impulse was to check the facts and not take it as fact until I had done my research. I was a freshman in 1988 and took as many of Dr. Balls courses as I could. He was always glad to see familiar faces and welcomed new ones. Classes were always conversations. He rarely spoke his mind and always challenged us to research before drawing a conclusion. Knowing both sides of issues was always an advantage in his eyes. Thank you for sharing him with us at NMU. He was a true gift to the conversation. My deep sympathies to his family and close friends. Lynn Barrette NMU Class of 1993 Sociology/Political Science"
"Phannee, I'm sorry to hear about Bill's passing. I will always remember you both as Rosie's parents because Cayla and I often saw you at the lake with Rosie. Bill was very kind and will be missed. My prayers are with you and your family."
"Dearest Phanee, Ileana and I send you and Bill's family our most heartfelt sympathy. In all the years that we have known him, at our house and yours, we have been primarily impressed with Bill's unassuming and kind nature. We too will miss him tremendously. With our love John and Ileana Renfrew"
"We have been friends with Bill and Phanee for many, many years. Our love for them had many roots. The first was Thailand, the first home of Phanee, the adopted second one for Bill, a place which left indelible memories from the time we visited it when our son Nicholas was in the Peace Corps there. Then, the University. Bill was an admired colleague and an extraordinary teacher. I was in the Languages department and for many years our offices and his in the Political Sciences were close. He was one of the most influential professors that our son Nicholas had at NMU while he studied for his BA in International Studies. Then, we shared wonderful Thai dinners at their home, long conversations, laughter. Also, his and Phanees presence at our end of the year party. He was truly a gentle man whose kindness always shone in everything he did. He was not the typical college professor in the sense of his varied occupations before he taught and his openness and true acceptance and admiration of people, cultures, experiences, and lives very different from his own . He had integrity, courage, and while he understood power very well, he did not seek it personally. We will miss him so very much. We want to send to Phanee not only our deepest condolences, but also to remind her that we are here, for whatever she may want. Ileana and John Renfrew "
"Since I married into the Renfrew family over 19 years ago, I have visited Marquette through the years, in summer and in the Christmas - New Year Celebrations. In these family visits, Nicholas, our boys Sebastian and Lucas, and myself, had the opportunity and pleasure to spend dinners, birthdays and parties with Bill and Pahnee. We have wonderful memories of all these opportunities where we enjoyed spending time with both, hearing about their careers, their trips and vacations, so many stories and anecdotes shared... we will treasure those and always remember Bill's kind smile, friendliness and warmth. We feel it was too sudden and too early for him to go and our visits and specially the Renfrew's End of the Year party will not be the same without him, we will miss you Bill! Dear Pahnee, we send you our condolences and all our love in this sad moments. Maria, Nicholas , Sebastian and Lucas Renfrew "
"Bill and Phannee have been my neighbors for many many years. I really lucked out when I moved to next to the Balls on Park Street. Many times he blew my driveway out and was always there to help if I needed him. I will miss the conversations we had over the fence in the back yard while Bill tended to his vegtable and flower garden and I putsying around. He was such a gentle soul and was kind to a fault. Rest easy my friend. I will keep watch over your dear Phannee. Marcia "
"I've known Phanee and Bill for several years, and I will always remember seeing them walking one of their dogs past my house on Pine St. They would always stop and talk for a few minutes. Always together walking and smiling. We are truly sorry for your loss Phanee."
"I am very sad to hear this news and very sorry for your loss. I had Dr. Ball as a professor in 2000 right during the Bush/Gore hanging chad era. He was the greatest professor I had in my years of schooling. I had the pleasure of saying hi to him and introducing my husband to him at the Casino in Christmas. He was a great man and will be missed dearly. Heather Bowerman"
"Dr. Ball had been my advisor at NMU in the late '80s-early '90s. He was an excellent professor and a great gentleman overall. Some years later while working the line clearing international passengers arriving from SE Asia, I surprised an academic delegation from Thailand heading to Marquette. I knew they were probably on their way to see Dr. Ball. so I told them to say hello from a former student. My condolences to his family and may you rest in peace, Dr. Ball."
"Paloma said it best. Our friend Bill will be missed at the Dog Park and I hope that we still see Phannee there when you are up to it. Bill was an amazing person."
"Bill will be missed at the doggie park this winter, I'm sure, and especially, by his girl, Lucie. Rest in peace, Bill"