Mrs. Ball, 84, the widow of retired Ball Corp. executive Edmund "Ed" F. Ball, passed away in a Miami hospital after suffering a stroke.

Ed Ball, who died in 2000 at age 95, was the son of Edmund B. Ball, one of five brothers who settled in Muncie in the late 1800s and established a manufacturing empire.

Several Ball State administrators and faculty remember Mrs. Ball for her dedication to the university as well as various community organizations and charities. Each witnessed her work in championing education.

"Virginia Ball was such a remarkable woman, and our condolences go out to the entire Ball family," said Ball State President Blaine A. Brownell. "The university has lost one of its greatest supporters, friends and benefactors, and the Muncie community has lost an energizing and dedicated presence.

"I was always struck by Virginia's spirit, zest for life and sense of adventure, qualities she shared with her late husband, Ed. Their commitment to higher education, the arts and community service was exemplary. She will be greatly missed."

Joe Trimmer, director of the university's Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, described Mrs. Ball as a "ball of energy."

The center was created in 1999 as a result of a $2 million gift from Mrs. Ball. The center allows students and faculty to explore the connections among the arts, humanities, sciences and technology.

"She helped create the center to provide life-changing experiences for students," Trimmer said. "She was very active here. We were in constant conversation about future activities for the center.

"With Virginia and Ed passing, it is an end of an era," he said. "I think their legacy of philanthropy and civic engagement is going to be hard to match."

Retired journalism professor Earl Conn spent hours interviewing Mrs. Ball for the recently published book "Beneficence: Stories about the Ball Family of Muncie."

Ed Ball and Virginia Beall Stewart were both widowed when they married in 1952 in Dallas, Texas. They subsequently moved to Muncie, residing in the family home on the southern edge of campus to raise their two children plus three from Mr. Ball's first marriage.

Conn recalls Mrs. Ball's appreciation for Indiana, but says she could never forget her native Texas. She earned a bachelor's degree from Baylor University in 1940 and received an honorary doctorate earlier this year from the school.

"She was quite proud of being a Texan," Conn said. "She is quoted as saying Ed referred to her as a Tex-Hoosier. She was a little more impulsive and more likely to take action than Ed."

Conn spent nearly three years researching the Ball family for his book. He writes about how members of the family used the profits from their glass empire to purchase a former private college and donate it to the state of Indiana to help create a university for the community.

"Of course, Virginia doesn't come into the book until fairly late in the family's history," he said. "However, she was very open and honest about things. She was very quotable and had some great stories to tell."

Nancy Carlson, chair of Ball State's telecommunications department, witnessed the impact Mrs. Ball and her late husband had on telecommunications. The couple created an endowed chair and funded student scholarships in the department.

Carlson, who also spent a year teaching at the Center for Creative Inquiry, was the writer/executive producer of "Ed Ball's Century," a narrative on local and world history as seen through the eyes of a man who lived nearly 10 decades in East Central Indiana.

"The department is saddened to lose a great friend and supporter, but we are happy she lived such an active life, right up to the end," Carlson said. "The Ball Endowed Chair in Telecommunications brought us three terrific faculty members in Steve Bell, Richie Meyer and now Barry Umansky. We have directly benefited from their generosity.

"Virginia was involved with telecommunications students right up until her death," she said. "A team of students is documenting the creation of "Catalyst," the public sculpture sponsored by Virginia in honor of Ed (to be displayed at the Minnetrista Cultural Center in Muncie). The truth is, both Ed and Virginia were catalysts for many good things happening in our community."

(Note to Editors: For a statement from the university and more information on Virginia Ball, go to www.bsu.edu/uc/extra/vball. Print quality photographs can be downloaded at www.bsu.edu/photoservices.)