Kristy Ball

It was a delight to work with Kristy at Merritt. She was kind, no-nonsense, unpretentious, and had a wonderful laugh. I always felt happy when I could make Kristy laugh or hear her say, in her musing tone, "I never thought of that." We had been planning a trip to the Grand Canyon before she knew about her illness and the last email I got from her was, "Maybe next year." One more reminder that there may not be a next year, so do it now. She will be missed.

Kristy was a key to my success at Eden Housing, kindly educating me about government regulations in her role as an asset manager for Merritt. However, what really struck me was her innate kindness, the love and care she brought to the work, and her amazing ability to connect with staff and residents. Because of this, we became good friends, keeping in contact even after she retired. Kristy was always a breath of fresh air. We looked forward to her visits. She was so easy to love. And she always spoke so lovingly of her family, especially her grandson. She is a model for us all.

I am the luckiest daughter-in-law in the world, because Kristy was my mother-in-law. She was so kind, loving, gentle, and funny. She and my mom were best friends and lived about 5 minutes away from each other, so they spent a lot of time together. We called them "The Moms" when referring to them. I am heartbroken that I won't get to see her again, but I have so many good memories of her that I will cherish forever. I love her dearly and will miss her every day.

I have known Kristy for over 55 years. We were friends before we were mothers. We had our daughters on the same day in the same hospital. Our grandchildren were the same age so we had a lot of fun times together with them too. Kristy was a bright light in my life. As her obituary stated, she was brilliant in everything she did. I was always amazed by how many things she could do and how incredibly well she could do them. Being around Kristy made me want to be a better person. She will always be in my heart.

Kumare is a Filipino word that describes the relationship between two mothers-in-law in a family. Kristy was my much-loved kumare because my daughter is married to Kristy's son, my favorite son-in-law. But beyond that, Kristy was also my best friend. We had many adventures together, but by far our favorite thing to do was sit and laugh and laugh. She was my loyal, sweet, beautiful kumare and I will miss her forever.