Volunteer Tyler Police Chaplain James ‘Chappy’ Ballard Passes Away At 67
BALLARD
By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor
Volunteer Tyler Police Chaplain James Ballard died Saturday of congestive heart failure. He was 67. Ballard, who started the chaplaincy program in 1995, headed a group of interfaith chaplains who assisted both officers and victims of accidents of crimes.
Religion Editor
Volunteer Tyler Police Chaplain James Ballard died Saturday of congestive heart failure. He was 67. Ballard, who started the chaplaincy program in 1995, headed a group of interfaith chaplains who assisted both officers and victims of accidents of crimes.
“Not everyone can be a police chaplain,” said Ballard, a former police officer, in a 2004 interview with the Tyler Paper. “We see the blood, beer and mud and it takes a toll on you. It can easily bring you to your knees. You have to be sensitive and tough at the same time.”
Ballard’s chaplains served and assisted at fatal car crashes, SWAT-team standoffs, suicides, plane crashes and situations where tension, stress and anxiety is high. Going to residences at unusual hours to deliver a “death notice” was very difficult, he said.
“It’s literally the dreaded knock-on-the-door at midnight,” he said. “They open the door and see a Tyler police chaplain standing in front of them, and the realization that something has gone terribly wrong starts to dawn on them. It’s the worst possible news a family can get. The chaplain is the first indication that all is not right. It’s pretty nerve-wracking for them and for us, too. Every time I go out, I just pray over and over, ‘God, help me not make a fool of myself.’”
But he found strength as he labored in the spiritually stressful environment.
“Joshua 1:9 says, ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.’”
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