John Manford Ball Jr. Obituary
John Manford Ball (81) passed away peacefully at his home on Friday, October 29th, 2021. He was born to John M and Wilma M Yocum Ball, the oldest of three children. After being paroled from Ft. Collins High School in 1958, John went on to graduate from Colorado University in 1968 with an English major and journalism minor. Preceded in death by his parents, John and Wilma Ball, his brother Clinton “Joe” Ball (Connie) and infant sister Georgia, leaving sister Karen Lake (Arvie) and nieces- Kirsten Lake, Adrienne Lake, Nikki Ball-Toughill (Michael), Abby Ball-Fojtik (Aaron), Rachel Ball-Tobin (Mark) and their children, Orlando and Evie.
John was an animal lover, outdoorsman and fearless adventurist, having skied, hiked, rock climbed, hitchhiked, biked and kayaked everywhere from Alaska to Peru, writing two books and making one movie about his bold exploits. He braved -63 degree temperatures on the North Slope of Alaska doing seismic work, traveled by bus and hitchhiking by road to finally reach the Amazon in Peru, kayaked 2, 000 miles down the Yukon River and had more brushes with death than a squirrel crossing a freeway. It’s no wonder his nieces called him “The Indiana Jones Uncle”. He said he did all these things, “for the experience” and that it all taught him how to keep a cool head in any situation. A skill that surely came in handy on many occasions.
John got the itch for adventure as a child and had many fond memories of searching for arrowheads and learning camp life from his Boy Scout Troop 99. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Thomas Veterinary Elder Care.
A Celebration of Life is planned for June 2022.
