Dorothy “Dolly” Ballance Ebel, a long time resident of Oak Ridge, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, March 18, at Clarity Pointe of Knoxville, where she resided in the memory care unit.

She was preceded in death by her husband Robert Ebel, her brother Edwyn Ballance, her sister Mrs. Gwenith Thompson, and grandson Marcus Ebel.

Dorothy was born August 2, 1919, in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Ellen and Alfred Ballance. She was the eldest daughter in a family of four girls and one boy.

Dolly was born in the baby boom that followed World War I. Her father ran a neighborhood grocery store in south Minneapolis during an era when grocery stores were within walking distance of every house. Shopping for groceries was by pedestrians using wagons and carts, in contrast to the present era where shopping is done by cars and vans at mega stores. As a teen, Dorothy often worked in her father’s store.  [Read more…]