Barbara F. Gordon-Ball

Barbara Gordon-Ball, 78, whose late husband Rev. Calvin P. Gordon pastored the Evangelical Friends Church in Newport and Middletown from 1966 to 1976, died peacefully on Friday, October 31, 2014 at a Westerly rest home. She was born Barbara Frances Landry on March 25, 1936 in Pawtucket, RI, to Mona and Alfred Landry, the eldest of five siblings. She grew up in hardscrabble conditions, shadowed by the Great Depression, World War II, and her father's early death. A gifted musician, she won a year of piano lessons from the Rhode Island Conservatory of Music in Providence at age nine. She parlayed this brief formal instruction into a lifetime of musicianship, playing for Sunday services, conducting church choirs, participating in Newport's Swanhurst community chorus, and leading hour-long sing-a-longs at her nursing home just weeks before she died. She felt called to Christian ministry, and in 1957 graduated from the New England Bible Institute in Framingham, MA. She married Calvin Gordon, a fellow student, that same year. Their ministry took them first to the Grace Baptist Church in Attleboro, MA, before being called to the Newport Friends Church in 1966. At the Friends Church, Barbara played key roles in music and teaching ministries during a time of growth, when the church moved from downtown Newport to its current location on Green End Pond in Middletown. She also worked as a realtor for Larry Nunes' Gallery of Homes in Middletown. Widowed in 1979 at age 43, she continued to serve various churches as a musician and teacher, with a special emphasis on mentoring women. She performed chaplaincy work until her final months. She benefitted from heroic medical care when, in January 1995, she received a heart transplant at age 58, followed by a kidney transplant 10 years later. For her longevity, she credited both her doctors' expertise and the power of prayer in equal measures. In 2001, she married Richard G. Ball, a widower and Christian missionary who was also a longtime family friend. Together they traveled to South Africa and Mexico for missions work before his death in 2008. Survivors include her sons Mark (Camila) Gordon of Westerly, RI, Paul (Jennifer) Gordon of Nashville, TN, and David Gordon (Katherine Janeway) of Melrose, MA; her grandchildren Andrew and Bethany Gordon, Alexander and Graham Gordon, and Charlotte and Eleanor Gordon; her brothers: Alfred (Carolyn) Landry, Jr. of Hopedale, MA; Kenneth (Charlene) Landry and Donald Landry of Milford, MA; sister-in-law Karen Landry, wife of her late brother David Landry of South Attleboro, MA; many nephews and nieces, countless friends, and the family of Richard Ball. At her request only a private burial service will be held. Memorial contributions may be made to World Vision, P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063; (888) 511-6548; www.worldvision.org.