Opal Ballard

Opal Roe Trissel Ballard, 102, of New Castle passed away Friday, February 27, 2026 at the Willows of New Castle. She was born January 22, 1924 in Olive Hill, Kentucky to the late William H. and Rosa (Johnson) Roe.

Opal was a graduate of Olive Hill High School then attended Morehead State University. She was raised in Olive Hill, KY until she moved to Dayton, Ohio in 1943, then to Brownsburg, Indiana in 1968, then to Indianapolis in 1992 then settled in New Castle in 2013. Opal was an active member of many Churches of the Nazarene through the years in different cities in which she lived, serving as offering counting committee, missionary president and Sunday school teacher in many of them. She was currently attending Memorial Wesleyan Church in New Castle. Opal had worked for Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, Danville Board of Education with the Danville Public Schools and retired from Ventura Enterprises also in Danville, Indiana. She loved knitting hats for cancer patients in various hospitals. Her greatest honor was being a mother! She also loved to sew, quilt, bake and cook large family dinners for her family to enjoy.

She is survived by her children, Paul Trissel, Elizabeth Trissel and Phyllis Huffman; grandchildren, Jonathan (Dawn) Russell, Cheryl (Tom) Workman, Samantha (Kevin) Cooper, Sabrina Trissel, Nathan (Brooke) Trissel, Steven (Beth) Trissel, Tiffany Trissel, Mark (Lauren) Church, Curtis Kumfer and Ashley Guffey; 31 great grandchildren; 4 great great grandchildren; step-chidlren, Cheryl (Greg) Chastain, Melvin II (Cindy) Ballard, Garrick (Tyanne) Ballard and Andrew Ballard; many step-grandchildren; step-great grandchildren; sisters, Lucille Neal and Helen Collins and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her first husband of 40 years, John Trissel; 2nd husband of 6 years, Melvin Ballard; daughter, Pamela Russell; 2 great grandchildren, Felicia and Zachary Stogsdill; a great great grandson, Caden Russell; siblings, Olive Parks, Hazel Martin, Mary Gibson, Audrey Prim, Clarence Roe and William Roe and a step-daughter, Nancy Droege.

Services will be at 4:00 p.m. Friday, March 6, 2026 at Hinsey-Brown Funeral Service in New Castle with Rev. Ron Blake and Pastor Mark Wooten officiating. Visitation will be from 2:00 p.m. until the time of the service on Friday at the funeral home. Burial will be at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at Clayton Cemetery, 40 W. County Rd 600 S. Clayton, Indiana 46118. Memorial contributions may be made to Gideon’s International by Clicking Here. You may express condolences or share a memory of Opal at www.hinsey-brown.com.