The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 513

WALTER C. BALL.

Walter C. Ball is vice president and general manager of the Sunnyside
Undertaking Company, which conducts one of the most modern and up-to-date
establishments of the kind in the Yakima valley. The company was organized in
1906 by B. F. Centwright, who has passed away; M. D. Clark, also deceased; and
Walter C. Ball of this review, then general manager. The officers now are: W. B.
Royce, president; Amelia Ball, secretary and treasurer; and Walter C. Ball,
vice president and general manager.

Walter C. Ball was born in London, England, in 1876, a son of George Cornelius
and Annie Elizabeth (Jones) Ball. The father was also an undertaker. In fact our
subject is in the fifth generation of the family to be connected with the
business. Under the parental roof in London he spent his boyhood days. later
assisting his father in the, undertaking business, beginning at the age of
fourteen and learning all the details from the ground up. In the old
establishment in the mother country they even made their own caskets and other
accessories which are now generally bought factory made. The opportunities
offered on this side of the Atlantic attracted Mr. Ball, however, and he decided
to seek his fortune in America. Having crossed the ocean, Mr. Ball was for a
time engaged in the undertaking business in Duluth, Minnesota, but in 1905 came
to Sunnyside and shortly afterward organized the Sunnyside Undertaking Company,
which is the outgrowth of three former firms. He has since given his undivided
attention to the conduct of this business, which has become one of the leading
establishments of the kind in this part of the state, its equipment including
fine auto service and a Winton Six hearse, which is very beautiful. In the
establishment there is a display room for caskets, etc., and an operating room
on the first floor. The modern and beautifully decorated chapel has seats for
seventy-five. The firm also maintains a branch at Mabton, which was established
in 1917, and Mr. Ball is the manager of both places. Mrs. Ball was one of the
first women to receive a license as an undertaker in the state of Washington and
is ably assisting her husband in his work.

In 1897, at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Ball was united in marriage to Miss
Amelia Drewett, of Duluth, Minnesota, where they resided while the former was
engaged in the undertaking business in that city. To this union were born the
following children: Herbert C., eighteen years of age, who assists his father;
Percival George, aged fourteen; and Margaret Ethel.

Mr. Ball is a member of the Masonic order, belonging to the blue lodge, and his
religious faith is that of the Episcopal church. In his political affiliations
he is a republican, steadfastly supporting the principles and candidates of the
party but without desire for office. He has readily cooperated with all projects
instituted for the development and upbuilding of his section of the state and is
ever ready to give financial aid to any undertaking for the betterment and
welfare of the general public. He has many friends in Sunnyside, all of whom
speak of him in terms of the highest respect.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.