Obituary: Odessa G. Balloga

Odessa G. Balloga was born May 11, 1923, in Galena, Kan., to May (Greenwood) and William Cox. She died March 30, 2014, at the age of 90.
Odessa was preceded in death by her husband, Louis Joseph Balloga, and seven of her eight siblings.
She is survived by: her sister, Katie Louise Cottrell of Springfield, Mo; her daughter and son-in-law, Paula and Edward Snyder, with whom she resided in Franklin, Tenn.; her son and daughter-in-law, Stephen and Cindy Balloga of Meeker, Colo.; step-grandchildren Allan and Ruth Snyder; and grandchildren: Evan Kutzler, Sarah, Abram, Jonas and Clare Balloga.
In Pueblo, Colo., where Odessa and Lou raised their children, Odessa put her love of children to good use by running a preschool.
She enjoyed playing bridge. As president of Chapter 117 of the National Association of Retired and Veteran Railroad Workers, Odessa used her gracious personal style and effective leadership to spearhead a letter-writing campaign that preserved the integrity of the association’s pension plan.
Odessa will be remembered by all who knew her well as a refined, gracious, kind woman and a devoted mother and grandmother.
No local service is planned.