Anita Ann Ballenger Maurras

Anita Ann Ballenger Maurras, age 70, of Saint Amant, Louisiana, beloved and loving mother with a God given and inherited heart of gold, passed away at her home peacefully during an afternoon nap Monday, December 15, 2015. Mrs. Maurras was born April 4, 1945, in Carthage, Mississippi, a daughter of John D. Ballenger, Sr. and the late Agnita Vowell Ballenger. Mrs. Maurras moved to Altheimer, Arkansas as a young child with her family and attended school there and Pine Bluff, graduating from Pine Bluff High School in 1963. She also graduated from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1967, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education. She was a member of the Arkansas Education Association and the American Education Association. She had taught school in Tennessee, North Carolina and Arkansas for more than 20 years. Mrs. Maurras was a member of First United Methodist Church of Pine Bluff and also attended Altheimer United Methodist Church and the Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock. She was preceded in death by her mother in April of 2014. Survivors include her sons, Captain Doug Maurras of Saint Amant, Louisiana and Bret Maurras and wife, MarthaLynn of Rogers, Arkansas; her father, John D. Ballenger Sr. of Pine Bluff; sisters, Jane Tanner of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Linda Schumacher and husband, Gary, of Little Rock and Melanie Ruhl and husband, Larry and brother, John D. Ballenger, Jr. and wife Denise, of White Hall; two grandsons, Andrew and Adam Maurras of Rogers Arkansas; her aunt, Lucille Gainey of Ridgeland, Mississippi; close cousin, Patricia Chauvin of Carthage, Mississippi. Funeral services will be Saturday, December 19, 2015, at 1:30 p.m. at the Altheimer United Methodist Church with Reverend Fred Arnold officiating. Burial will follow in Graceland Cemetery by Ralph Robinson & Son Funeral Directors. The family will receive friends at Robinson's Friday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 12:30 to service time at the church. Her ways of loving, living and giving will always be remembered and cherished and carried on. Memorials may take the form of contributions to the Mayo Clinic Department of Development, 200 First Street S.W., Rochester, Minnesota, 55905, phone 1-855-852-8129 in memory of Ann B. Maurras. Online register: www.ralphrobinsonandson.com.