Linda (Greene) Quarles

Linda Greene Quarles, 74, went to be with her Lord on August 18, 2021. Linda was born April 8, 1947 to the late Willard J. Greene and Lillie Mae Greene. As a three year old child, Linda, and her mother were evacuated from South Korea shortly after the North Korean invasion in June 1950. Her father had been deployed in South Korea, and the family had been living in Seoul. Linda and her mother left Inchon Harbor on a Norwegian fertilizer freighter “The Reinholt” with over six hundred other U.S. Army wives and children.  Linda lived with her family in Stuttgart, Mannheim, and Heidelberg, West Germany where her father served two tours of duty.  Linda’s high school graduation ceremony was held in Heidelberg Castle in the spring of 1965.  She attended Warren Wilson College where she met B. Vincent Ballard. They married and moved to Raleigh. Linda worked in the jewelry business becoming a Certified Gemologist Appraiser, American Gem Society. She retired from Haydon & Co. in 2006. Linda was very outgoing making friends everywhere she went. She never met a stranger. Linda was an incredible woman that taught many people so much.  Linda was a vibrant human being who deeply appreciated artistic things. She was both a teacher and a student at the same time, with a thirst for knowledge in all fields.  She was intellectually curious. Linda loved all forms of arts and crafts and was very good at all of them. She loved her “Nana Camp” sessions every summer with her grandchildren, her bible studies, her garden club activities and all of God’s creatures that crossed her path. Linda had a beautiful unique sprit and was undaunted in everything she encountered. She loved her family dearly and she loved her God. Nana, to her grandchildren, was fearless and could handle herself  in any situation. She could pick up snakes, dress and cook squirrels, shoot guns at the range with the guys, then confidently rub shoulders with high society and was great doing all.  Linda was vibrant and full of life.  Her favorite saying was “Life is Good”.  She had a big personality and made a positive impact on many. She loved her pottery nights with Billy Wilder, “the pottery ladies” and the various projects she and her sister-in-law, Marian, would undertake from making baby dresses and Halloween costumes to working in the dirt creating flower beds and gardens. Linda was a mountain girl that tolerated the beach for her family and friends. This 70 year old Nana was still climbing trees. In her later years, she thoroughly enjoyed traveling with her “travel buddies” Lois and Tommy Goodwin. 

She is survived by her loving husband of 45 years Emmett and by her son Patrick V. Ballard (Jennifer) and daughter Shannon Ballard Welch and grandchildren Ethan and Jesseca Ballard and Julianna and Rebecca Welch. Linda is also survived by brothers Paul J. Greene (Kristine) and David G. Greene (Bobbie), and by her beloved “fur babies” Whiskey, Jesse and Holly.

A service to celebrate Linda's wife will be held at 2:00 pm, Friday, April 8, 2022 at L. Harold Poole Funeral Service Chapel, 944 Old Knight Road, Knightdale, NC 27545. A light reception for family and friends will be held immediately following the service at the funeral home. 

Memorials may be made to SPCA of Wake County, 200 Pet Finder Land, Raleigh, NC 27603-6075 or a charity of your choice.

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