Former Elder High School maintenance worker remembered

Jack Ballman, a former maintenance worker at Elder High School died on Tuesday at the age of 69. To most Elder students he was a guy who walked the halls, fixing what needed to be done in a quiet fashion. He unlocked the school doors early in the morning. He was a hard worker.

But to me, he was more than that.

Jack was a guy who helped my mom get her work done. My mother doesn’t drive, so when she needed a ride to work, Jack would leave and pick her up. When she needed to make a run to Sams Club to pick up candy and food for the vending machines she stocks, Jack would drive to our house, pull up in the old, beat up tan van, honk the horn, and off they’d go.

He didn’t call my mom Lori, but called her, ‘Molly.’ I’m still not sure why he did this, but I know that my mom, along with all the other workers at Elder High School, are feeling a huge loss right now.

Jack loved my car, and I was never sure why. He’d always ask me how my car was doing. He loved old cars too. Oftentimes my mom would come home with stories about Jack’s weekend at another car show.

Tom Moore, the former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator, stood in front of a group of high school and college coaches at Higher Ground in late February. He told this group, “If you’re going to be an assistant coach, be the best assistant coach you can be, and the head coaching jobs will come.” But he added that there’s nothing wrong with being an assistant coach.

Just be the best you could be. Jack Ballman was the best maintenance worker at Elder, even if he wasn’t widely known. He didn’t talk to many students, but he always would stop and chat with me. For this, and numerous other reasons, I will miss Jack Ballman. And I know that I’m not the only one.