Mona Lorraine (Raab) Balles, 92, of Freeport died Feb 22, 2017. She was born September 26, 1924 in Stockton, IL (Wards Grove) to the late William and Marjorie (Eaton) Raab. She was the 7th child of 15 children.
Mona graduated as valedictorian from Stockton High School, Class of 1942.
She married Charles Balles on November 30, 1946 in Galena, IL. They celebrated 70 years of marriage this past November. They met while working together at Burgess Battery Company. She also worked at Micro Switch. Her greatest pride was the almost 20 years she worked at the Freeport Memorial Hospital School of Nursing as secretary to the Director of Nursing. She held a special place in her heart for the many nurses who went through the program. It was always a joyous reunion when their paths would cross.
Mona was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church where she was active for many years. She was a member of the Good Fellowship class and was a past president of United Methodist Women. She was also a member of Christian Women's Club. Mona was very loving and giving. She was a volunteer for RSVP for 20+ years. She was a Girl Scout leader and hosted foreign exchange students over the holidays.
Mona was so proud of all her grandchildren. As they were growing up, she attended every activity they were involved in as possible. She also enjoyed quilting as she hand quilted over 80 quilts for people. She also loved baking, crafts, her garden, hanging clothes on the clothesline and cardinals.
She is survived by her husband, Charles Balles of Freeport; 3 children, Linda (James) Fowler of Rockford, Frederick (Debbie) Balles of Freeport and Laurie (Vern) Mills of Freeport; 7 grandchildren: Melissa (Terry) Sheehan of Freeport, Angela Penticoff of Rockford, Joshua (Tiffany) Mills of Sycamore, Justin Mills (Danialla Schreiber) of Forreston, Kurt Balles of Freeport, Joseph (Jenny) Mills of Washington, IL and Charity Fowler of Rockford and 12 great grandchildren; brother, Millard (Linda) Raab of Haughton, LA, and 2 sisters, Mary Lou Bowers of Lena and Marie Bawden of Stockton. Mona was preceded in death by her parents, William and Marjorie, 6 brothers and 5 sisters.
Visitation will be from 4-7pm on Friday, Feb 24th at Walker Mortuary. Services will be at 11am on Saturday with an additional hour of visitation from 10am - 11am, Feb 25, 2017 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Freeport, IL. A memorial has been established.