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In On [[April 10]], [[1940]] he married [[Theda Ball|Theda Sims]], with whom he had three children: [[Suzanne Parkhurst|Suzanne]], [[Kirk Ball|Kirk]] and [[Roger Ball|Roger]].
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'''Braden Lee Ball''' ([[1911]]-[[2006]]) was publisher of the ''[[Pensacola News Journal]]'' from [[1942]] until [[1976]].
Born [[October 1]], [[1911]] in Newport News, VA, Ball moved to Pensacola as a boy. He filed his first news story at age ten, about a ship wreck, and at 18 joined the ''News-Journal'' (then operated by [[John H. Perry]] as both the ''[[Pensacola Daily News]]'' and the ''[[Pensacola Journal]]'') as an advertising salesman.
He became business manager and eventually manager of the ''[[Panama City News-Herald]]'', and in [[1942]] became publisher of the ''News-Journal''. During this time he began what is founded the ''Fort Walton Beach Playground News'' (now the ''[[Northwest Florida Daily News]]'' ) in [[Fort Walton Beach]]. He was also president and board chairman of the [[Florida National Bank]] in Pensacola and director of both the [[St. Joe Paper Company]] and the [[Edward Ball Wildlife Foundation]].
Ball was interested in the promotion and growth of Florida and the Pensacola area. His efforts helped bring the first four-lane highway to the Panhandle, and he helped select the site for the [[University of West Florida]].
