'People flooded to her': Friends remember beloved nurse found dead at Pendleton King Park

Friends of 43-year-old Quanda Ball, a beloved Augusta nurse who last month was found dead in Pendleton King Park, said she brought light into everyone's lives she touched, with her competitive nature and fun-loving personality.

Ball, who was reported missing to the Richmond County Sheriff's Office on May 16, was later found dead in her car at Pendleton King Park on May 21, according to previous reporting. The Richmond County Coroner's Office has deemed her death "suspicious."

Friends and family gathered Friday for a balloon release in Ball's honor at the Academy of Richmond County, where Ball attended high school.

A memorial was also set up at Pendleton King Park, where she was found.

'... beautiful smile and a passion for people'

Ball was affectionately known as "QB," but most of her friends called her by her full first and last name.

Mary Harris, who was friends with Ball for more than 20 years, described her as someone who never met a stranger.

The pair met at a nightclub and immediately clicked.

"She had a big, beautiful smile and a passion for people," Harris said. "When we met, she was still in college – she hadn't became a nurse yet. I used to call her a career student. I was like, 'When are you going to figure out what you want to do?' And she was like, 'I'm trying, but I hate to start something and not like it.'"

Ball studied occupational therapy, but later earned her nursing degree and started working at Piedmont in Augusta.

"She was always making sure everybody was OK, making you feel comfortable, keeping a smile on your face," Harris said.

Harris added basketball was Ball's first love and even though she stopped playing when she tore her ACL, she kept the same competitive nature.

"We shouldn't have, but in our younger years we were drag racing down Deans Bridge Road," Harris said. "We were coming up to the curve where Dean Bridge turns into Gordon Highway and we were kind of neck and neck. My mind said, 'Don't let her win, because I'm beating her right now,' but it also said, 'She likes to win, so she's going to try to take that curve with me and we're going to have a wreck.' It became a situation of do I let her win or do we have an accident."

Harris said she ultimately gave Ball the go-ahead and let her take the win.

"She was just an all-around good person," Harris said. "She was adamant about the things she loved and the people she loved. She stood on principle for the things that she cared about in her role as a nurse and as a [basketball] coach, taking care of those kids and leading them in the right direction."

Sarah Carlisle, who met Ball through a mutual friend and remained close with her for more than 15 years, also remembers Ball's competitive nature fondly, along with her love for crafts, wooden creations, food, playing cards and The Celtics.

"She loved a good competition of any sort," Carlisle said. "We went to adult game nights and I used to whoop her in Wii bowling."

She added they enjoyed going to St. Patrick's Day events in Savannah, Arts in the Heart in Augusta, and even traveled to Atlantic City for a birthday trip where Ball taught her how to play blackjack.

"She always liked a good card game," Carlisle said. "She once won $25,000 on a cruise. ... She was the most friendly, approachable person. The 'hype man' of any social event. When she entered the room, people flooded to her."

Harris added Ball was also a champion at spades.

"It was one of her favorite pastimes," she said. "You had to always be prepared to beat her, because she was ready at all times."

Previous report: Missing Augusta woman, 43, found dead inside car at Pendleton King Park

Reaction to Ball's 'suspicious' death

Harris said she was baffled by the news that Ball went missing.

"She had a close-knit set of people that were around her," she said. "When I heard she was [found] in a park in her car – any and everybody wouldn't have been in her car, so that's what bothers me. Not everybody was going to be allowed into her home, into her car and into her personal space."

She remembers finding out the news of her friend's passing while she was at work.

"My daughter called me and said, 'Have a seat,'" Harris said. "She asked if I was on Facebook that day and I said I was working so I hadn't had an opportunity to look at my phone. Everybody knew how that would affect me, with it being her. I think that effect was on everybody whose lives she touched."

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Friends remember beloved nurse found dead at Augusta park