Pauline Ballard Fredrick

Pauline was born on July 18th, 1935 in Egypt, Mississippi on the family farm where she would spend some of her most cherished days. Like many during that time, the start of WWII profoundly changed the course of her life. The war effort required every able- bodied man to enlist. Fathers who were the sole support for their families went to war, while mothers worked in the munitions plants. As the oldest child, Pauline took responsibility for siblings. After the war, family farmers struggled to survive and many flocked to the automobile factories in Detroit to find work. After high school, Pauline ventured north to Detroit as well. A blonde southern belle with a beautiful smile and singing voice to match, she worked clerical jobs by day and continued her education at night. There she met and married Clayton Russell. They moved from Detroit to the Washington, D.C. area where they raised two daughters. She inherited her green thumb from a long line of family farmers and turned her love of plants into a small business providing foliage and staging weddings and events in and around Washington, D.C., including Andrews Air Force Base. Some of the more notable events featured President George H.W. Bush, General Norman Schwarzkopf and newscaster Ted Koppel. Pauline was a member of the Military Officers’ Auxiliary Association (MOAA) and a life member of the VFW Auxillary. She was active in Job’s Daughters, a branch of the Masons and served as Bethel Guardian. She was a proud member of the local Homemakers Club and a member of Zonta International. Pauline moved to Tallahassee in 2002 to be close to her daughter. She loved to play the piano, read, garden and travel. She loved spending time at her beach condo, watching Dancing With The Stars and having her picture taken. Pauline was preceded in death by her husbands, Clayton E. Russell and Charles W. Frederick; brother Deward H. Ballard, Jr. and parents Fannie (West) Davis and Deward H. Ballard. Survivors are daughters Lynda Woodard (Liddon), Tallahassee, FL and Sandra Helin (Wallace), Austin, TX, brother Jim Ballard, Aberdeen, MS, sister Betty B. Ballard, West Point, MS, nephew Rick Ballard (Barbara), Troutsville, VA, great-niece Brianna Ballard, Seattle, WA.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, www.stjude.org, 501 St. Jude, Place, Memphis, TN 38105 (888)955-8303 or The American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org, P.O. Box 42040, Oklahoma City, OK 73123, (800)227-2345.