Kathleen Baskin-ball Obituary

Kathleen Baskin-ball attended R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, TX. View the obituary, post a memory, or share a photo about Kathleen Baskin-ball.

Graduation Year	Class of 1976
Date of Passing	Dec 02, 2008
About	09:32 PM CST on Tuesday, December 2, 2008 By JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News jsimnacher@dallasnews.com Kathleen Baskin-Ball: Beloved pastor who fought cancer ministered to very end. The Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball ministered to the very end. On Nov. 16, she defied her cancer and preached all three services at Suncreek United Methodist Church in Allen. After learning last month that her aggressive cancer would soon take her life, she scheduled a series of farewell meetings at her home. There she continued to minister to those who came to say goodbye. On Sunday, she was back at the church. "She baptized 35 children, and six people joined the church while she was here, because she was just never ready to quit," said church secretary Jennifer Evans. "She just came and baptized all those babies and had a wonderful time while she was doing it." Ms. Baskin-Ball, 50, died Tuesday (Dec 2, 2008) of complications of cancer at her Allen home. Services were at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec 6, 2008 at the First United Methodist Church of Richardson. While Ms. Baskin-Ball was beloved for her devotion to her ministry, she was also a pioneer. In her seven years at Suncreek UMC, she built the congregation from fewer than 469 members to more than 1,600. In June 2007, she became the first woman elected by the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church to lead its clergy delegation to the General Conference, the denomination's important decision-making meeting. She was also elected to chair a committee at the meeting, her family said. The Rev. W. Earl Bledsoe, bishop of the North Texas Conference, praised Ms. Baskin-Ball's life and ministry. "Kathleen was one of the finest pastors I have ever known," Bishop Bledsoe said. "She had that rare gift of being able to connect with people at the core of their existence, treating them with respect and dignity." Bishop Bledsoe said he first observed that gift while he was conducting the funeral for a parishioner who had died of cancer. "The daughter of that parishioner was a member of Kathleen's congregation at the time," he said. "Kathleen came to the funeral, stayed and ministered to the family and showed pastoral care in a loving and supportive way. I immediately gained an appreciation and admiration for her ministry." Ms. Baskin-Ball will be missed in the conference and in the greater ranks of Methodist clergy, the bishop said. "We celebrate her triumphant victory over life and death," he said. Ms. Baskin-Ball connected with people because she "was the most incredible preacher I have heard in my entire life," Ms. Evans said. "You've never heard anybody preach like Kathleen. "She preached to you. She was real. She preached to you in a way that affected your life. You could apply it to your life." Ms. Baskin-Ball was born in Dallas and grew up in Carrollton and Farmers Branch. She received a bachelor's degree in psychology from what is now the University of North Texas in 1981, and a master of divinity degree from the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in 1986. Ms. Baskin-Ball held staff positions at churches in Carrollton, Wichita Falls and Denton before founding Nueva Esperanza Fellowship in West Dallas in 1989. Ms. Baskin-Ball went to Mexico to learn Spanish by immersion to lead her new congregation. She became fluent and could preach in Spanish. The West Dallas start-up congregation became a full church in 1994. Ms. Baskin-Ball resisted Methodist officials' requests for her to move from her first church to another congregation for years, Ms. Evans said. In 1994, Ms. Baskin-Ball became pastor at Greenland Hills UMC in Dallas, where worship attendance doubled and the budget grew more than 2 ½ times during her seven years of leadership. In 2001, she moved to Suncreek UMC, then a 6-year-old congregation. One of Ms. Baskin-Ball's last acts as pastor came Sunday afternoon, when the Suncreek youth choir sang at her home. "She visited with each and every one of them because she knew the kids were the ones who would have the hardest time," Ms. Evans said. Sunday evening, Ms. Baskin-Ball told her husband that she was tired after the glorious day and was ready for her eternal rest. Ms. Baskin-Ball is survived by her husband, Bill D. Ball Jr. of Allen; their 4-year-old son, Skyler; two sisters, Diane Baskin of Denton, and Julie Baskin Chastain of Coppell; a brother, Richard Baskin of Meansville, Ga.; and her parents, Gene and Peggy Baskin of Lewisville. Memorials may be made to a fund at Suncreek UMC to support placing a pastor in one of Dallas' most impoverished neighborhoods.