Marvin H. Ballard

A Life Well Lived... Marvin H. Ballard, known to his friends as Max,
passed away on February 7, 2023. For many years he was the Social
Studies teacher and Cross Country Coach at EastMont High School. His
teaching career spanned over thirty years, including as an adjunct
professor of History at New River Community College. He served two
years in the Navy during the Viet Nam War, following in his Father’s
footsteps who was a Naval Commander and captained a destroyer during
World War Two. Max joins his father, Hinton Hampton “Hamp” Ballard
and his mother, Doris Ballard, in a joyful reunion in the great
hereafter. He is survived by his wife, Sheila Ballard, his loving
friend and helpmate Shari Rutherford, his sister Jeanie Brickle and
her husband Sam, his brother and sister-in-law, Dennis and Patience
Flynn, many nieces and nephews, and his two stepdaughters, Devon
O’Gara and Brittany O’Dell.

Max was active in community affairs. He was a member of the Shawsville
Ruritans, and famously held the Shawsville 5K Race every Fourth of
July. The race generated around $5,000 every year for the Ruritans and
for the Cross Country team at Eastmont. It was an annual event and
looked forward to by many runners and their families.

Max’s wish was to create a scholarship for EastMont students who wish
to major in history and are members of the cross country team. The
Marvin H. Ballard Memorial Scholarship will be dedicated at EastMont
High School in the Spring. The date of the Memorial dedication of the
scholarship and celebration of Max’s many contributions to the school
and the students he mentored will be announced at a later date. He is
loved and missed by all who knew him.