When Helen Grace Friesen was born on 20 February 1919, in Weatherford, Custer, Oklahoma, United States, her father, Heinrich or Henry Jake Friesen, was 33 and her mother, Justina Jantzen, was 37. She married Fred Ballew on 10 July 1938, in Custer City, Custer, Oklahoma, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons. She lived in Cedar Township, Custer, Oklahoma, United States in 1920 and Deer Creek Township, Custer, Oklahoma, United States for about 10 years. She died on 11 November 2006, in Corn, Washita, Oklahoma, United States, at the age of 87, and was buried in Thomas, Custer, Oklahoma, United States.