104 - Thomas Lee Ballenger - Tahlequah Cem. - Tahlequah, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 54.548 W 094° 59.888
15S E 319695 N 3975714
Thomas Ballenger came within a few weeks of being 105.
Waymark Code: WMQJ2A
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 02/24/2016
Views: 4
Thomas Ballenger was born on December 22, 1882 and passed away on November 8, 1987 at the age of 104. His headstone is a flat gray granite stone located in Tahlequah Cemetery, shared by his wife, Mildred Parks Ballenger, who was a Cherokee tribal member.
Thomas' headstone notes that he was a Scholar, Writer and Teacher. A listing on Wikipedia gives more detail of his life: Thomas Lee Ballenger (December 22, 1882 — November 8, 1987) was a historian, author and teacher. He was born in Rover, Arkansas on December 22, 1882. Ballenger received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ouachita Baptist College in 1905 and began teaching in Mountain Home, Arkansas. He quickly transitioned from teaching to school administration in Loco, Oklahoma and Magnum, Oklahoma. After this time, Ballenger attended the University of Chicago to earn a second BA, and where he would eventually also earn a master's degree in History. In 1918, he married Mildred Josephine Parks, a member of the Cherokee Nation, with whom he had one son, Tom Jr. Due in part to his marriage to Parks, Ballenger focused his further studies in Cherokee history while receiving his doctorate from the University of Oklahoma. Ballenger died at age 104, on November 8, 1987.
*Thomas was 9 when the first basketball game was played, in Massachusetts.
*He was 24 the year Oklahoma became a state.
*At the age of 29, Ballenger heard the news that the Titanic had sunk.
*He was 59 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, too old to have served in WWII.
*The year Thomas Ballenger turned 100, Michael Jackson recorded his album "Thriller", the best selling album of all time - and I bet Thomas didn't even care!