They’re Having a Ball!
Dale and Anita Ball graduated in 1956 from Saint Agnes High School, now known as Springfield Catholic High School (where their granddaughter Haylee Ball is a senior). They were high school sweethearts and have been married for 60 years. 62 years have passed since the 80-year-olds graduated and much has changed. The Shamrock Post sat down with the couple to talk about their relationship and experiences in high school.
Mass was held every day, and they had no uniforms. The class sizes were relatively small, 22 to 25 people per class. Teachers varied as well. The school had a few nuns, including Sister Helen Marie, who inspired fear into the students. Anita enjoyed the basketball games, while Dale fondly remembered stories of kids being put into lockers and food fights in the cafeteria. They would throw pats of butter across the room, behind Sister Helen Marie’s back, of course.
Dale and Anita met at a school dance at Sacred Heart in their sophomore year. They started talking and dancing. Soon after, he would walk her home after school, and in 1957 the pair married at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Many of their classmates attended the wedding.
They enjoyed class reunions together every few years. There was only one other couple from their class that got married after high school. They enjoyed sock hops in poodle skirts at their reunions, just like when they were in high school.
At their 25th class reunion, their old classmates asked Dale and Anita to dress up and do a jitterbug, thinking that the two had never done the dance! Much to their classmates’ surprise, the two practiced until they learned the entire dance.
Their son, Scott Ball, and their daughter, Deena Ball, also attended Saint Agnes High School. Their pictures are in the 1977 yearbook in the Library Media Center.
Though the name of the high school has changed, the SCHS community has remained much the same. “Dale and I have had a great life, mostly because of our great catholic education.”
