OBITUARY FROM REES FUNERAL HOME WEBSITE:

Katherine J. Ballard, age 61, passed away on April 4, 2015. Katherine was cremated by Leppert Mortuary and Crematory Services, Carmel IN, and a private service was held at Calumet Park Cemetery, Merrillville Indiana, led by Reverend Craig Forwalter. She is survived by her brother, Richard J. Ballard of Saint Louis Missouri and her sister Christine R. Ballard of Gurnee Illinois. She was preceded in death by her father.

Katherine was born to Walter R. Ballard and Frances C. Ballard (nee Bubas) on April 7 1954 in Gary Indiana. She grew up in Hobart Indiana and graduated from Hobart High School in 1972. Katherine enjoyed music, cooking, sewing, knitting and traveling. Katherine shared her talents through helping friends and family; she was skilled working with her hands and had a keen eye for color. During high school Katherine wore dental braces; she became fascinated with the science and art of dentistry.

Katherine obtained her undergraduate degree (Dental Hygienist Certificate and Bachelor’s of Public Health) at Indiana University School of Dentistry, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1976. After working as a dental hygienist at Highland Dental Clinic in Indiana, she returned to IUPUI and graduated as a dentist in 1985.

After graduation Katherine worked as a dentist in Indianapolis dental offices. Then Katherine became the dentist for the Marion County Indiana Department of Public Health. Her responsibilities included attending dentist on the Smile Mobile, a mobile dental office that provides dental care to school children; providing dental checkups and education at the annual Indiana Black and Minority Health Fair; and providing dental care at Marion County Indiana retirement homes and AIDS clinics.

Katherine later headed a Topeka Indiana dental office providing dental care and education to the Amish community; she provided dental services, and she managed and renewed the office’s IUPUI funding grant. She wrote a series of articles explaining dental care for the Topeka newspaper.  Katherine was proud of her dentistry and public service.

This information and picture were obtained from: https://www.reesfuneralhomes.com/obituary/katherine-ballard.