Wanda Ballejos

Wanda Ballejos, age 63, passed away peacefully at her home in Lakeside surrounded by her husband, her daughter, and her sister on January 16, 2017. Born in Topeka, Kansas on November 17, 1953 to Marvin and Gayle Current Saville. The family moved to Iowa shortly after her birth. In 1957, Gayle met and married Bud Hulbert and later, Wanda and her sister Cindy were adopted by the man they would forever call Dad, Bud Hulbert.  The family moved to Arizona in 1962, and later to Pinetop in 1964.  It was in Pinetop-Lakeside where Wanda would remain for the rest of her life.  She graduated Blue Ridge High School in the class of 1972. Wanda married Pete Henderson in June of 1972 in Tacoma after he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. They had two daughters together. They divorced in 1979 but remained good friends until Pete’s passing in 2005. She worked at Baker Office Supply in Show Low for 18 years, and later worked for several years at Pinetop Safeway, and she loved interacting with her coworkers and customers. Many of those interactions were the foundation of long-lasting friendships.  In fact, she was lucky to have reconnected with an old friend, coworker, and the man who hired her, Patrick McKinley in 2013.  Patrick and she travelled to many places that Wanda loved and also to many places that she had never before been able to go.  They were married in April 2015.  He was a loving husband and companion and took wonderful care of her during her illness and in her passing. For many years, Wanda was active in the Emblem Club of Show Low Elks Lodge, eventually serving as president of the club. She enjoyed the company of her Elks friends and often spoke about them even in her last months. Wanda was intensely proud of her daughters and bragged incessantly about them and their lives and accomplishments from their births until she became unable to speak a few days before she passed away. She was also a loving and proud grandmother to her six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.   Wanda was known for being outgoing, (sometimes overly) affectionate, and the life of the party. She had a large personality and nearly always said what she was thinking.  She was proud of having been a cheerleader at Blue Ridge High School, and also was active in track and softball.  She loved to dance and had won many awards in local dance contests.  Even in her later years, Wanda would proudly demonstrate her dance moves and her ability to do the splits to anyone who would watch!   Those her knew her well also knew her to be a hard-working and independent woman who raised and supported her daughters on her own.  The lessons her children learned from her were invaluable.  She was a skilled gardener and a not-very-skilled collector of many things, including old cards, letters, books, and stuffed animals. If anyone ever wrote Wanda a card or a message, chances are great that she was still in possession of that in her final days.   Wanda was preceded in death by her mother, who was her best friend, her father, and her brother Larry Hulbert. She is survived by her husband Patrick McKinley, daughters, Danielle Kelley (Don Solberg) and Courtney (Mike) MacKinnon, her sister Cindy (Calvin) Brown, six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, an aunt and an uncle, and several nieces and nephews.  Services will be held Thursday January 26, 2017 at 11:00 at Owens Livingston Mortuary in Show Low, 320 N. 9th St.