Fred Henry Ball

Notes:

Ball was born on July 17, 1915, to Henry Durrell Ball (September 25, 1887 – February 28, 1915) and Désirée "Dede" Evelyn Hunt (September 21, 1892 – July 20, 1977) in Jamestown, New York. He was named after his grandfather. He grew up in a Baptist family; his father was of Scottish descent and related to the first President of the United States, George Washington (whose mother was Mary Ball). His mother was of French, Irish and English descent. His genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies, including Edmund Rice, a founder of Sudbury, Massachusetts. Another direct ancestor, William Sprague, left England on the ship Lyon's Whelp for Plymouth/Salem, Massachusetts. He helped found the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts.

His father was a telephone lineman for the Bell Telephone Company, and his mother was a concert pianist. His father contracted typhoid fever while Dede Ball was pregnant with Fred, and died in February 1915. When Fred was a few years old, his mother met a Swedish Lutheran salesman named Edward (Ed) Peterson, and married him in 1918.

Fred and his sister were raised by their grandparents. Their grandfather (Fred Hunt) was an eccentric socialist who enjoyed the theater and frequently took the family to vaudeville shows. He worked in the furniture industry. He often whittled toys and made doll furniture for his grandchildren. Fred thought of Mr. Hunt as his father (since his own father died before he was born); it was his grandfather who became a surrogate father to him through most of his childhood. Fred, Lucille, and their mother all lived together with the Hunts for a time in Celoron.

In 1927, a neighborhood child, Warner Erikson, was paralyzed by a shot accidentally fired from a gun Fred's grandfather had given him for his birthday. Erikson died five years later. The resultant publicity and lawsuit forced Mr. Hunt to sell his house and enter bankruptcy. He was even jailed for a time. After this incident (which was referred to in the family as "the break-up"), the family had to split and never lived together in one place again. Fred's grandfather died in 1944.

He left Jamestown, along with his mother and grandfather, to join his sister in California in the 1930s, working as a page boy at Cafe Trocadero. He was the road manager for Desi Arnaz's band in the 1940s and 1950s. Later, he was on the Board of Directors of Desilu Productions (the studio that Desi and Lucy purchased in 1951 and that produced I Love Lucy, as well as Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and The Untouchables).[citation needed]

After managing administration at Desilu Productions, he instead managed restaurants and hotels, such as the Palm Desert Hotel, and mobile-home parks. He was a real estate agent and broker in Arizona.

Fred Ball died of natural causes in Cottonwood, Arizona, on February 5, 2007, at the age of 91. He was cremated and buried in the Hunt family plot at Lake View Cemetery in Jamestown, New York, where his parents, Henry and Desirée (Hunt) Ball, his sister, Lucille Ball, and his grandparents are buried. He was survived by his four children, Pamela Ball Von Pinnon, Melissa LeBritton, April Jackson, and Geoffrey Ball, as well as seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Fred's wife, Zo Ball, died on May 12, 2013, at the age of 93.

Full Bio

Fred married Phyllis M. Brier on 24 Apr 1949 in Los Angeles County, California, and was divorced on Yes, date unknown. Phyllis was born on 15 Mar 1919 in Jamestown, Chautauqua, New York; died on 14 Apr 2008. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Fred married Nazoma "Zo" Roznos on 19 Feb 1956 in Los Angeles County, California. Nazoma was born on 17 Jul 1919 in Waco, McLennan, Texas; died on 12 May 2013 in Cottonwood, Yavapai, Arizona. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Laborer
• Cause of Death: Typhoid Fever

Henry married Desiree Eveline "Dede" Hunt on 31 Aug 1910 in Jamestown, Chautauqua, New York. Desiree was born on 21 Sep 1892 in Jamestown, Chautauqua, New York; died on 20 Jul 1977 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; was buried on 23 Jul 1977 in Lake View Cemetery, Jamestown, Chautauqua, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jasper married Nellie Rebecca Durrell about 1877, and was divorced on Yes, date unknown. Nellie was born on 9 Oct 1856 in Dunkirk, Chautauqua, New York; died on 7 Dec 1945 in Lockport, Niagara, New York; was buried on 10 Dec 1945 in Holy Cross Cemetery, Lackawanna, Erie, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Clinton married Cynthia T. Dale about 1839. Cynthia was born on 30 Dec 1823 in Tionesta, Forest, Pennsylvania; died on 10 Apr 1900 in Fredonia, Chautauqua, New York; was buried on 12 Apr 1900 in Forest Hill Cemetery, Fredonia, Chautauqua, New York. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]