Jimmie Ballinger's Memorial Album

Jimmie passed away March 7, 2014. My (ex-) mother-in-law, if there is ever an ex-mother-in-law, died this morning in Fortuna, CA. I didn't go through my Facebook friends to remind myself how many of you had ever met her or knew her. She came from the Texas panhandle town of Turkey, Texas--Bob Will's home town which put up a statue of him with his music playing 24 hrs/day until they couldn't stand it any more and turned it off. One of Jimmie's grandfathers (or great-?) worked on the King Ranch and helped work the refuge for thousands of bison. Jimmie came from Turkey and was a great cook. She took cooking classes at College of the Redwoods and finally went on an Elder Hostel trip to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris; there was nothing she didn't already know. JIMMIE BALLINGER was one of the most gracious and strong women I've ever known. She even made it threw my marrying her daughter Judith in 1972 in spite of my being Jewish, a convicted felon, and jobless. We learned to respect and love one another through the years--through our divorce, through our being of different political persuasions, through Judith's second marriage, and Judith's death two years ago. She lost her husband Bob, her sister-in-law, and her niece's husband of 7 months in a single auto accident, and her brother Richard some time after that. She was in another accident years later and made an amazing recovery in her 80's. Her optimism through these events and the 41 years I've known her was something to behold. I love and miss her as will many, many people including her grandchildren, among whom are my children, Adam and Emily.