Charlene (Martel) Balla

Charlene Balla was born

on June 15, 1936, the

daughter of Albert and

Irene Martel of Rolette,

ND. She was the oldest o

feight children, 4 girls

and4 boys.

She taught school in

ND for six years before

moving to Chicago in

1961. She married Ron

Balla in 1972. She

worked for a wholesale

paper company for 43

years. She and Ron did a

lot of traveling, having

visited Las Vegas 69

times. They never had

any children.

She loved her family

and never forgot anyone’s

birthday or anniversary.

She battled very aggres-

sive cancers for the past

two years. For the last few

weeks, prior to her death

she was under the care of

Hospice. She chose to for-

go any further treatments

and died at home on Oc-

tober 19, 2021.

She is survived by: her

husband Ron Balla of

Broadview, IL, sisters Lin-

da Hastings and her hus-

band, Bill, of Grand Forks,

ND, and Pat Haun and her

husband, Jim, of Boise,

ID, brothers Gene Martel

and his wife, Theresa, of

Bismarck, ND, and broth-

er Don and his wife, Col-

leen, of Rosemount, MN

and sister-in-law Verlae

Martel of Bismarck, ND.

She is also survived by 22

nieces and nephews and

their families, as well as

her many friends.

Charlene was preceded

in death by: her parents,

Albert and Irene Martel of

Rolette, ND, her sister

Joyce Ruge and husband

Tom of Wichita, KS,

brothers Rick Martel of

Rolette, ND and Art Mar-

tel of Bismarck, ND

A memorial service is

planned for 12:30 PM,

Oct. 30, 2021, at the

Queen of Heaven

Cemetery Chapel ,1400

South Wolf Rd., Hillside,

IL 60162.