Margaret Ball Petty, prominent Muncie businesswoman and philanthropist, died Thursday night in her home. The widow of Fred J. Petty, she had been in failing health for several years.
Mrs. Petty was born in Muncie, the daughter of Frank C. and Elizabeth Brady Ball.
Her father was one of the five Ball brothers who moved their glass plant, predecessor of Ball Corp. to Muncie from Buffalo, N.Y., in the 1880s. Her mother was a member of an early Muncie family.
Mrs. Petty was active throughout her lifetime in civic organizations and activities. She succeeded her husband as president of Ball Stores Inc., which they had owned and operated since 1938, at his death in 1949. In 1965 whe became chairman of the board and was succeeded as president by her son, Edmund F. Petty.
Mrs. Petty also was a director of Ball Corp. for several years and after retirement was named an honorary director.
An accomplished artist and aviatrix as well as a wife, mother and businesswoman, she participated in the 1961 Powder Puff Derby, the coast-to-coast air race for woment pilots. She was also a member of several aviation organizations, including the 99s and the Sportsman Pilots Association.
Her training as a pilot began after she was a grandmother, and she continued to pilot her own plane until forced to curtail her activities for health reasons a few years ago.
Mrs. Petty grew up in a family where art appreciation was encouraged. She was a niece of Winifred Brady Adams and J. Ottis Adams, both of them versatile artists. J. Ottis Adams had a studio in Muncie and conducted art classes here both before and after studying for some years in Europe.
Following graduation from Mount Vernon Seminary in Washington, Mrs. Petty studied at the Chicago Art Institute. Her work included a number of paintings--acrylics and oils--which were exhibited in a special showing in 1979 in the Minnetrista Center.
Her education included Muncie High School, Elmhurst Academy in Connersville and Mount Vernon Seminary.
Her memberships included the First Presbyterian Church, Muncie Art Association and the Art Students' League, Altrusa Club of Muncie, the Conversation Club, Paul Revere Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Alpha Chapter of Psi Iota Xi Sorority and Muncie Civic Theatre, for which she put her artistic talent to work for many years designing stage scenery as a production volunteer. She was a longtime member and past president of the Ball Memorial Hospital Auxiliary.
As president of Ball Stores, she supervised its growth into new areas, expanded the management and sales organizations, oversaw a general remodeling and aggressively pursued the acquisition of new lines of merchandise and more parking lots to attract customers. She made numerous buying trips to Chicago, New York City, and Europe, and was a frequent visitor to the store's departments to check on employee and customer wishes and satisfaction.
In 1976, through the Margaret Ball Petty Foundation, she was instrumental in procuring the nine-foot bronze statue "The Passing of the Buffalo," by Cyrus Dallin, for Muncie's downtown district, as a memorial to her late husband.
In 1973 she was honored with an Americanism award by the Eisenhower Memorial Scholarship Foundation, which had been set up to honor the late president and which she had served as a trustee.
Surviving Mrs. Petty are her son; a daughter, Marjorie (Mrs. Henry) Harper, Ocean Ridge, Fla.; two sisters, Lucy (Mrs. Alvin M.) Owsley, Dallas, Texas, and Rosemary (Mrs. Alexander M.) Bracken, Muncie; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services will be in the chapel of the First Presbyterian Church at 11:30 a.m. Friday with Rev. Lewis Weber Gishler, pastor emeritus, officiating. Interment will be in Beech Grove Cemetery.
Callers will be received at the church an hour before the services.
Memorials may be sent to the church at 1400 W. Riverside Ave., or to the charity of the donor's choice.
Meeks Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.