Community activist.
Born on 8 June 1926 to Alma Lily Downie (1896-1996) and George Thomas Chatwin (?-1944), she made a home in Winnipeg and worked as an administrative assistant at Standard Aero Limted for over 40 years. With her husband Arthur Henry Ball (1921-1977), she had three children.
In 1959, she began designing and making costumes for the Winnipeg Figure Skating Club, continuing for more than 30 years. She became a member of the Club’s executive two years later and then went on to become an executive member of the Manitoba branch of the Canadian Figure Skating Association (CFSA), as well as a CFSA judge. After retiring from Standard Aero, she devoted many hours to compiling the history of figure skating in Manitoba. In recognition of her dedication and contributions to the sport, she was inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. The Skate Manitoba Grassroots Bursary Program was also a beneficiary of her devotion to the sport.
From the early years of her life through her last days, she treasured the family cottage at Victoria Beach, which she saw as representing her family’s connections to one another and to their past.
She died at Winnipeg on 7 February 2013 and was buried in the Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 11 February 2013.
“Lasting legacies: Prominent Manitobans who died in 2013,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 January 2014.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 15 October 2026
Memorable Manitobans
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