Joyce Lee Leroux's Obituary
June 26, 1925 - July 10, 2021
Joyce Lee Cude Ballard LeRoux passed away peacefully after a short illness. She was born in Somerset, Bexar County, TX on June 26, 1925 to Albert Sidney Cude and Lora Lee Johnson Cude and was the youngest of their three children.
She grew up in the small town of Somerset where she was surrounded by her grandparents and many loving aunts, and uncles. At age 7, she accepted Jesus Christ as her savior at the Somerset Methodist Church which was like a second home throughout her youth. She attended Somerset High School, graduating in 1942 as salutatorian of her class and received a full scholarship to San Antonio Business College. On February 13, 1944, she married Lt. Harold C. Ballard and they moved to Victoria, TX where her husband was a flight instructor for advanced fighter pilot training at Foster Field. After World War II ended, they moved to Dallas. In the spring of 1946, she joined the First Baptist Church of Dallas where she remained a lifelong member. She began helping Ms. Bertha Mills in the Nursery Department at First Baptist Church and later worked in the church library.
Tragically, on February 22, 1952 her husband, Harold Ballard, was killed in a plane crash at Hensley Field in Grand Prairie, TX while flying a training mission for the Texas Air National Guard.
On February 9, 1954, she married Edmond (Eddie) LeRoux at the First Baptist Church of Dallas. In 1960, they moved to a farm at Argyle, Texas. In 1961, she attended Texas Woman’s University in Denton, TX where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and later, a Master’s Degree in English.
Beginning in 1977, she became actively involved in genealogy, traveling to areas where ancestors were known to have lived and meeting with many previously unknown relatives. This endeavor brought many blessings to her life and helped to enrich her life. She always said that “God has blessed my life beyond words, including times of sorrow”.
She and Eddie were married for 56 years, until his death on August 29, 2010.
Preceded in death by her parents, her infant son Timothy Ballard, her husbands, her brother, Albert Sidney Cude Jr., and her sister Mary Elizabeth Cude Horton. Survived by her son David Sidney Ballard and daughter-in-law Betsy Ann Benton Ballard of Irving, TX, daughter Debra Ballard Homa and son-in-law Rich Homa of Menomonie, WI,
son Phillip Edmond LeRoux and daughter-in-law Ann Wilkins LeRoux of Dallas, TX, granddaughters Margaret Lee Ballard and Lora Elizabeth Ballard of Irving, TX and grandsons Christopher Edmond LeRoux and his wife Annie Terracina LeRoux of Dallas, TX, Aaron Clark LeRoux of Dallas, TX, and Michael David Leroux and his wife Bailey Jarvis LeRoux of Austin, TX.
A graveside service will be held at Restland Funeral Home in Dallas, TX at 11:00AM on Saturday, July 17, 2021.
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