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Bobby Ball


 

 

Longtime Mariposa resident Bobby Joe Ball passed away in a Joplin, Mo., hospital on June 12, 2021. His wife, Artie, and daughter, Trina, were by his side. Bobby succumbed to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident near his home in Neosho, Mo., on June 10. He was 78.

Bobby graduated from Mariposa County High, Class of 1962, then immediately began his 32-year career with the California Department of Forestry. Bobby’s career choice was directly in line with his fondness of the outdoors. He enjoyed hunting, fishing, picking wild berries, picnicking and gardening. Any local will remember the large garden that he and Artie kept well-tended at their Triangle Road home in Mariposa. Bobby was also a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast, again, confirming his love of nature and the outdoors.

Bobby was always an American patriot. In his later years with CDF, he was becoming somewhat discouraged with the direction California politics were trending and was feeling a strong pull to old family roots in southwest Missouri. In 2004, they finally did it. Bobby sold the old family home, they pulled up stakes and moved halfway across the country to Neosho.

Bobby would be very happy there the last 17 years of his life, finding traditional culture and patriotism still common fashion in middle America. There was much to see and do with all the history and natural wonders in that part of the country, as well.

He looked forward to visits from his daughters, Lisa and Trina, and sharing all the joy he and Artie found together in their new home. One of Trina’s favorite visits was her first, when just she and Lisa flew out together. Bobby had a Gold Wing trike at the time and took Trina out on a ride with him. She said it made her feel like when she was a little girl, riding on the back of her daddy’s motorcycle again. Except this time there was technology involved, with an intercom in the helmets that allowed him to easily point out and tell her about all the sights they were seeing.

Bobby is survived by Artie J. Ball, his wife of 35 years of Neosho; a daughter, Trina (Mark) Stephens of Sallisaw, Okla.; stepdaughter, Gina Rene Ball; stepsons, Mark Lindley and Larry Beavers; grandchildren, Matthew Scoggins, Miranda (Scoggins) Jackson, Shayna Stephens, Connor Casner, Courtney Casner and Holly Beavers; and 11 great-grandchildren. He was proceeded in death by his granddaughter, Chelsie Stephens, in 2001, and his daughter, Lisa Marie Casner, in 2010.

Service arrangements are yet to be determined by the family.

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