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In
memoriam
Ann Ball, one of America’s leading writers on
the saints and Catholic culture, passed away in
Houston, TX on June 8, 2008, at the age of 64. A
grandmother of eight Ann was a truly prolific
writer, the author of numerous books, articles,
and pamphlets on saints and traditions, crafts,
popular devotions and art. Ann authored and
coauthored more than 20 books for the purpose of
evangelization and catechesis. The most popular
include The Faces of Holiness, Catholic
Traditions In The Home And Classrooms: 365 Days To
Celebrate A Catholic Year; How-to Book of
Sacramentals: Everything You Need to Know but No
One Ever Taught You; The Other Faces of Mary; Holy
Infant Jesus; Catholic Traditions in Cooking.
Her latest publication, Crafty Catholic Kids:
Great Activities for Family Fun, was released
in March of this year. Her diversity of interests
was the source of much inspiration among her
readers. As she wrote on her website: “I was
born the type of person who is curious about
everything. That trait has stayed with me all my
life, and I have spent many happy hours
investigating all kinds of things.” She began
publishing as a way to express her own love of
crafts, history and especially the Catholic faith.
Ann Ball also dedicated
her time to many other causes including the cause
for canonization of the Mexican Jesuit Miguel Pro.
She had completed the history of All Saints Church
in Houston and was currently writing the history
of the Basilian Fathers Missions. She also wrote
the Basilian Missions quarterly newsletter.
Consulted by CNN on several occasions Ann was an
internationally well-known expert on the saints
and she collaborated with hagiographers, popular
writers, academic researchers and with
international correspondents through the internet.
Ann was also a private
investigator and owner of All State Guard Service.
As a member of the Associated Security Services
and Investigators of the State of Texas, her
company mainly served the Houston area since 1992.
Ann Ervin Bolton Ball was
born in Dallas, Texas, on May 13, 1944, the
daughter of Ora Louise and Julian Bolton. After
attending Jacksonville High School, class of 1962,
she graduated from the University of Houston with
a Bachelor’s degree in Education and was a
lifetime member of Beta Sigma Phi. A convert to
Catholicism, she taught at Corpus Christi School,
St. Thomas High School and Marian Christian High
School.
She is survived by her
her daughter, Joanna Ball, of Houston, TX; son,
Sam (& Danielle) Ball, Houston, TX; adopted
son Raul Quintero of Monterrey, Mexico; her
brother, Charles "Chuck" Bolton, Miami,
FL; sister, Julie (& Terry) Bolton
Douglas-Smith, Dallas, TX; nephew, Brett (&
Linda) Douglas, Keller, TX; niece, Julianne (&
Curtis) Douglas Sanford, Jacksonville, TX;
grandchildren Austin Wilken, Max, Victoria,
Brenden, Christian, Karolyn & Katharyn Ball,
Houston, TX; Michael Quintero of Georgia; great
nieces, Courtney (& Joe) Sanford Foster,
Montgomery, TX; Jaci and Caylee Sanford,
Jacksonville, TX; Courtney Harper, Bullard, TX;
Christi, Erin, and Lauryn Bell, Keller, TX; great
nephews Jeremy Sanford, Jacksonville, TX and
Dalton Douglas, Bullard, TX.
A Memorial Mass was celebrated at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 14,
2008, at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 9900
Stella Link Road, Houston TX 77025, (713)
667-0497. In lieu of flowers, the family requested
that memorial donations be sent to: “Basilian
Fathers Missions”, P.O. Box 708, Sugar Land, TX,
77487-0708 or Casa Juan Diego in Houston.
Notice
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Welcome to
AnnBall.com!
 "Welcome to my web site. I was born the type of person who is curious about everything. That trait has stayed with me all my life, and I have spent many happy hours investigating all kinds of things. It was curiosity that made me wonder what the saints really looked like. Maybe you have wondered about that, too. In my case, my curiosity eventually led to my writing books and articles. I’ve put some of the articles I have written on this site, as well as samples from some of the books. My grandchildren wanted a part for them, too, so there is a kids’ room with stories and pictures and games for the little ones.
I hope you enjoy looking around and that you will visit again from time to time. One of the most fun things about being a writer is the comments I get from other people, so please do sign my guest book or send me an email. Enjoy!"
- Ann Ball
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As
she puts it, Ann Ball has a split personality. During the day,
she manages All
State Guard Service,
a Houston security guard company. She has held a security
officer commission for twenty years, and is the immediate past
president of the Houston
Chapter of the Associated
Security Services and Investigators of the State of Texas
(ASSIST). After work, Ann creeps home, puts on her author's hat, and
writes Catholic books and articles about the modern saints and
Catholic heritage and traditions.
Before she "freaked out and joined
the wacky world of security," Ann was a schoolteacher for
many years, both in her native state of Texas and in California.
She holds a B.S. Ed from the University of Houston. 
Ann enjoys
reading, gardening, arts and crafts, cooking, and making things
from the herbs she grows. When her foster son from El Salvador,
Raul, first came to live with her, he saw the herb cabinet and
thought he had moved in with a bruja (witchdoctor).
Ann jokes that she lives in a zoo. She has a pride of cats, a long hair Chihuahua and two birds as well as two outdoor fish ponds in the
garden.
Ann has a daughter, Joanna, who recently retired from the Air Force and works with Ann at the security company. Her son, Sam, is the quality and environmental protection manager for Laurin Maritime and a Chief Petty Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. Son Raul lives in Monterrey, Mexico. Ann is "Grammaw" to Austin, Michael, Max, Victoria, Brenden, Christian, Kathryn and
Karolyn.
As for her writing, her son says
"My mom is the only person I know who can write a cookbook
one year and follow it up the next year with The Catholic Book
of the Dead!" Joanna calls her mom "Granola,"
explaining that Ann's personality is "mostly fruits and
nuts." Ann's favorite cause is that of the merry Mexican
martyr Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J. You can see more about this
heroic saint on the web page dedicated to him at: http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/pro/
In her spare time, Ann works with the Basilian Fathers
Missions, helping to write their newsletter and occasionally cooking a meal for the priests on rotation from the missions in Mexico, Colombia and St. Lucia. She would like to invite you to visit their website at
http://basilianfathersmissions.org/ to learn more about these dedicated mission priests.
After teaching school all those years, Ann is comfortable speaking to kids, but she still gets nervous speaking to adults. She’ll do it, though, for a good cause like the Basilian missions, and occasionally is invited to speak to Catholic groups on the modern saints or other
topics.
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