Patrick Balland

Patrick Ralph Balland passed away due to multiple chronic illnesses on June 9, 2019. Patrick was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on December 27, 1959, to Sophia Balland (nee Garcia) of Ledoux, New Mexico, and Louis Claude Balland of Mora, New Mexico. He would have been 60 years-old this December. He grew up in a large family of seven brothers and two sisters in Cheyenne, where he attended Corlett Elementary and Central High School. Many places in and around Cheyenne held special meaning for Patrick, including Granite Springs Reservoir where he would often pass time as a young man with close friends. Patrick settled in Peoria, Arizona, where he co-raised his two daughters and learned to love the monsoon season; he enjoyed taking his girls on 5 AM sunrise viewings, woody walks to favorite fishing holes, and eating Red Vines overlooking fireworks in the valley from the White Tank Mountains. It was fundamental to him that his daughters have a strong background in good music and social justice issues, and were empowered to think for themselves. For 35 years, he labored hard as a network technician with the company currently known as CenturyLink, building a life to support himself and his daughters. He returned to Wyoming once again in the mid-90s and remained ever since. Patrick was a lover of culture, baseball, dogs, comic books, food, science, math, philosophy, fishing, and a good thunderstorm. He was a prolific writer and poet. He was idealistic, extremely intelligent, expressive, and brutally honest. He could be prideful and stubborn. He was introverted yet social. He possessed integrity, empathy, and intuition; he could be logical and irrational at the same time. Above all else, Patrick was not easily defined, nor was he a black and white thinker: he was a dynamic, beautiful, restless, accepting soul-he was a masterpiece. Patrick is preceded in death by his father, Louis Claude Balland (1995), and two brothers: Ernest Claude Balland, who was killed in action during the Vietnam War (1970), and Joseph Balland, a Vietnam Veteran, who passed away in 1993. He is also preceded in death by his four beloved dogs: Kody, Beau, Thorn, and Coco. This was a difficult year for Patrick; his health deteriorated quickly and one of his best friends, Rudy Lopez, passed away months before his own passing. He was surrounded by the love and compassion of family and friends throughout this tough time. Patrick is survived and forever loved by his mother Sophia; his two daughters, Sarah Jane Balland, 35, and Lisa Janel Balland, 33, of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Tucson, Arizona; five brothers Lou (Joella), Bernard, Phillip (Julie), David (Laurel), and Vincent (Amy), and two sisters Kathy Balland and Jeanne Green (Jos); his friends, Ray Garcia and George Aris, and his ex-wife and friend, Laura J. MacDougall; many nieces and nephews, and family, cousins and friends that are too many to name, but were all integral to who he was. Patrick was a self-proclaimed agnostic; he was a philosopher born into a big Catholic family, though he found guidance in his family's faith and through the counsel of Father August of St. Mary's Catholic Church. A rosary will be held for Patrick at St. Mary's Cathedral in Cheyenne, Wyoming on Sunday, June 16 at 7:00 p.m. and a Funeral Liturgy will follow at St. Mary's on Monday, June 17, at 10:30 a.m. Following services, a memorial to celebrate his life will be held at Kiwanis Community House at 4603 Lions Park Drive from 12 PM-2 PM. At this time, the family asks for thoughtfulness and patience as they grieve, and is grateful to those who wish to contribute by donating to any of the listed causes in his name: �-� Black Dog Animal Rescue: http://www.bdar.org/donate �-� The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA): https://www.centeronaddiction.org/donate �-� Hispanic Organization for Progress and Education (HOPE): mail-in donations to HOPE, PO Box 3194, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 82003 Services are under the care of Schrader, Aragon and Jacoby Funeral Home.

Service

Monday, June 17, 2019 10:30am

St. Mary's Cathedral

2101 Central Ave.

CHEYENNE, WY

Vigil for the Deceased Sunday the 16th day of June at 7:00 p.m. at St. Mary's Cathedral

Reception

Kiwanis Community House

Lions Park

CHEYENNE, WY