A
Great Friend Leaves Us
Our lives are enriched by the company we keep; and
this station has certainly been enriched by the company of one Colonel
David B. “Sam” Ballou. We simply called him “Big
Bird!” Since the ’80s, Big Bird has enriched our lives
as a volunteer, mischief maker, practical joker and, most of all,
a beloved friend. Many on the staff bid him farewell on June 13.
He was called to join his beloved wife, Becky — also a wonderful
friend to the station, who had passed away in early spring —
with a 21-gun salute and loving family and friends in attendance.
He helped us behind the scenes during almost all of
our pledge campaigns for years. The love of his life, Becky, fought
Alzheimer’s and Dave was there to take care of her every step
of the way; so we missed him the last several years as she increasingly
needed his help. But he always had time to send us e-mails with
his great humor attached!
Anyone who knew Dave would say the same thing…“what
a joker!” He loved practical jokes more than anyone I have
ever known. Well, to say he was trickster is quite an understatement.
We always have name tags for staff and our regular volunteers during
the membership campaigns. His “official” name tag was
Dave “Big Bird” Ballou. One campaign, we put “Big
Nerd” on his nametag, which he wore around all night. We thought
we had pulled one over on him. Hmmmmm, maybe not. The next night,
instead of his name tag, he wore my nametag around all night, to
which people would ask, “Patty…is that short for Patrick?”
He would tape our telephone switchhooks down so that when we would
pick it up the receiver the phone kept on ringing; but we soon caught
on to that little trick of his. So many tricks were lovingly played
on us by this gregarious Colonel — who was a pilot in WWII,
Vietnam and Thailand, and had tours of duty in Alaska and Canada
— and was happy to be called Big Bird! He was a mischievous,
wonderful man. You know, when you are around someone like Dave,
you understand just how terrific a great sense of humor really is…you
smile more, you laugh more and, amazingly, you work just as hard!
To say he will be missed by his family and friends…well,
it just doesn’t even begin to cover it.
-- Patty Starkey, Executive Director, Friends of Seven
(KSPS Public Television, Spokane, Washington)
