J. Roy Ball

James Roy Ball, 89, of 193 Bembury Road, Hertford, NC, died Friday, February 1, 2013 in Albemarle Hospital, Elizabeth City. Mr. Ball was born in Washington County, TN and was the son of the late Jesse Paul and Joda Mae Arnold Ball. A retired BMC from the US Navy after over 22 years of service, he was a veteran of World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. During WW II, he served in the South Pacific, was on the USS Yorktown, and in the Battle of Midway. After retiring in 1963, he began a second career as parts manager with Hollowell Chevrolet in Hertford, George Chevrolet in Edenton, and Mid-Way Chevrolet in Sunbury, and also worked with Murray Auto Parts in Hertford. A member and deacon of Woodville Baptist Church where he also taught Sunday school, he was also a member in the American Legion, the Fleet Reserve Association, the Disabled American Veterans, and a charter member of the Inter-County Ruritan Club since October of 1991 where he had served as the club chaplain each year, was a Tom Downing Fellow, a Ruritan Forever, and a member of Ruritan's Foundation Million Dollar Club. In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by an infant son, Richard Wayne Ball. Surviving are his wife of nearly 67 years, Opal Pickering Ball; two daughters, Linda B. Privott and husband Danny of Hertford and Janet B. Bell and husband Philip of Stone Mountain, GA; three sisters, Ina Emert of Greenwood, SC, Reba Moen of Monroe, WA, and Elsie Payne of Jonesborough, TN; two brothers, Carl Ball of Bluff City, TN and Dale Ball of Johnson City, TN; four grandchildren, Jana Hurdle and husband T.W. of Belvidere, Jeffrey Privott and wife Gayla of Cary, Graham Bell and wife Cheryl of Loganville, GA and Bret Bell and wife Danielle of Monroe, GA; and eight great-grandchildren, Lindsay Hurdle and fiance James Rash, Amanda, Danielle, Cassie, and J.T. Hurdle, and Brandon, Grace, and Colin Bell. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. in the Miller & Van Essendelft Funeral Chapel, 1125 Harvey Point Road, Hertford, by the Revs. Steve Feehan and Josh Armstrong. Burial with military honors will follow in West Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Elizabeth City. Friends may join the family Monday from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the funeral home and other times at the residence.