Emilie Margaret Ballard was born in Hyattsville, Maryland, on July 21, 1919. She attended the local elementary and high schools, earned a BS with a major in nursing at the University of Maryland, s...view moreEmilie Margaret Ballard was born in Hyattsville, Maryland, on July 21, 1919. She attended the local elementary and high schools, earned a BS with a major in nursing at the University of Maryland, served in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II, and earned an MRE with a major in missions at the Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She served as a missionary to the Karens in Burma and Thailand for almost forty-one years. Retiring in 1939, she spent three years in Thailand preparing language lessons for missionaries to Karens and then retired at Pilgrim Place retirement community in Claremont, California.view less