Theresa Marie Ballinger
Services for Theresa Marie Ballinger have been scheduled 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Sitka National Cemetery.
Terri, who first came to Sitka in the 1970s and lived here off and on over the years, died Feb. 19 at the Sitka Pioneers Home. She was 91.
She was born July 12, 1930, in Columbia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Louis and Delphine Molinari. She attended John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls School in Philadelphia, then night school studying IBM keypunch, correspondence and bookkeeping. She afterward worked in finance, including as a bank head teller.
On Nov. 5, 1966, she married the love of her life, Jack Ballinger, a former Alaskan, at the Naval Station chapel in Philadelphia. The two relocated to Fort Richardson in Anchorage during his service in the U.S. Army, and after they retired from their careers in Philadelphia they returned to Anchorage. After Jack’s death in 2002, she had made Sitka her home.
Terri loved spending time with her parents in Philadelphia. She enjoyed music – jazz and the oldies in particular – and she loved animals throughout her life, especially dogs and cats.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Warren Jack Ballinger, sister-in-law Pauline Fredrickson, and brother-in-law Robert Ballinger.
She is survived by her daughter, Adria M. Ballinger of Schnecksville, Pennsylvania; sister-in-law Rose Ballinger, formerly of Sitka and now of Yuma, Arizona; and by nieces Trish White and Tori Hay of Sitka.
The family suggests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Sitka Pioneers Home, 120 Katlian Street, or the Brave Heart Volunteers, Box 6336, phone 747-4600.
