Who was Ballard Turnbull?

Ballard Turnbull, a Tower-Soudan resident who lost his battle with liver cancer and died on August 8th 2006, dedicated his life to serving his community.

For nearly 30 years Ballard served as supervisor of the Tower Area Ambulance Service. Here he took great pride in his role and worked tirelessly to continue to improve the skills and equipment of the service. He made the service what it is today and countless lives have been saved because of his dedication and passion.

Ballard spent his life on the Iron Range, attending Virginia High School and living in both Eveleth and Tower. He did spend some time with the US Army during the Vietnam War, but returned to the Iron Range to make an impact on the place he called home.

For his work, Ballard worked primarily as a Millright both at Erie Mining Company and US Steel Minntac. In between he also sold medical supplies and was a home health care worker, attempting to bring his passion (helping others) to his career. In his final years he was promoted to Training Coordinator for the United Steelworkers Union at US Steel Minntac. Here he was able to use the skills he developed in pushing to improve the ambulance service to improve safety trainings at several US Steel plants and push to improve the lives of the workers.

On the side Ballard was an EMT Instructor at Mesabi Community College and was an EMT Tester for the State of Minnesota. His students will surely remember his clear passion for the topic as well as his fun and sense of humor. Though he himself did not obtain a college degree, he believed strongly in the value of education and would be so proud to help others pursue a degree which will allow them to do what they love from the start of their career.

Ballard impacted countless lives through emergency response and as a role model for others. For his dedicated service, he was awarded a Community Service Award through the Congressional Fire Service Institute by Senator Oberstar.

Ballard was diagnosed with cancer in May of 2006. He sought treatment from multiple doctors but the particular strain of cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) strikes quickly. After a treatment of chemoembolization he was in and out of the hospital several times, and died in his home surrounded by loved ones just 3 short months after his diagnosis. Ballard leaves behind a wife of 25 years, Marilyn, and three children, Darla, Valerie, and Wyatt. Because his time from diagonosis was so short and he was committed to fighting, he did not tell a lot of stories or leave behind specific words of wisdom. We are looking for his wisdom in the way he lived his life. Please take time to share a story and keep his memory alive.

Ballard helped to make the world a better place through his dedication and efforts. He had a gift for living life to the fullest, took on every day with a great sense of humor and taught people to believe in themselves. He gave so much to our community, the iron range, it is our turn to have some fun, remember him and return the favor!