Joy Bale Boone
Joy Bale Boone
October 29, 1912 ~ October 1, 2002
Joy Bale Boone, poet and activist, died October 1, 2002, in Glasgow. Born October 29, 1912 to William Sydney and Edith M. Field in Chicago, IL, she married Dr. S. Garnett Bale of Elizabethtown, KY in 1934. After Dr. Bale’s death, she married George Street Boone of Elkton, KY in 1975, who survives. Joy is also survived by her six children, Shelby G. Bale of Glasgow, Barbara O. Bale of Lexington, Daryl Bale Vann and her husband, E. P. “Pat”, of Glasgow, Dr. Richard H. Bale and his wife, Gina, of Spokane, WA, Dr. Bradley F. Bale and his wife, Pam, of Spokane, and Dr. Phillip W. Bale and his wife, Kristen, of Glasgow; fifteen grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; a daughter-in-law, Robin Bale of Tacoma, WA.
Joy was very involved in civic activities, including the founding of the Elizabethtown League of Women Voters in the early 1940’s. She reviewed books for the Louisville Courier-Journal for more than 50 years and on WIEL radio in Elizabethtown. On the state level, she was active in mental health and medical associations, the Heart Association and the Humanities Council. A life-long advocate for education, she received an honorary doctorate in humanities from Western Kentucky University, the Sullivan Medallion from the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky School Board Association “Friend of Education” Award in 1999. She served on the UK Board of the Gaines Center for Humanities, the Thomas Clark Foundation, the Advisory Board to Western Kentucky University, the Advisory Committee of KET and the Kentucky Council on Higher Education. A literary enthusiast from childhood, she founded and edited the Kentucky Poetry Magazine “Approaches”, edited two anthologies of Kentucky Poetry, served on the Board of Friends of Kentucky Libraries, where she was a driving force for the establishment of the bookmobile system, and the editorial board of the University Press of the University of Kentucky. She was co-founder and past-chair of the Center for Robert Penn Warren Studies at Western Kentucky University. Joy was the first Kentucky Poet Laureate, 1997-1999, after the State Legislature established criteria.
Joy bequeathed her body to the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Memorial services will be held 4:00 p.m. Sunday, October 13, 2002, at the First Christian Church. Visitation will be from 3-4 p.m. at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of the Hatcher & Saddler Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be sent to the Center for Robert Penn Warren Studies, Department of English, Western Kentucky University, 1 Big Red Way, Bowling Green, KY 42101, or the American Heart Association.
