The Bale family: Generations of generosity
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n March, ACH Foundation board member Sharon Bale and her husband John “Johnny” Hardin Bale, Jr. donated $1 million to support the Arkansas Children’s Hospital fetal heart program. The donation from the Bales, owners of the Bale Automotive Group of Little Rock, was a gift of life to generations of children yet to be born. The Bale Family Fetal Heart Center, a collaboration between ACH pediatric cardiologists and the UAMS obstetrics/gynecology department, will diagnose and care for unborn children with cardiac conditions. The gift was further evidence of the Bale family’s deep commitment to the health of children through Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Through four generations, the Bale family has served ACH, carrying on a legacy of civic responsibility and philanthropy. The birth of the Bales’ grandson, the first of the family’s fifth generation, moved the family “from the road of duty to the highway of passion,” Johnny Bale said. John Hardin Bale IV received treatment at ACH for a congenital heart defect and other health issues. “Even though we worked for and supported ACH all those years, it was when we began our walk in the shoes of so many families before us that we really understood what we were working for,” said Sharon Bale. Johnny, an ACH board member since 1974, follows in the footsteps of his grandfather and father who were also board members. His grandfather, Hardin Bale, served on the board from 1927 to 1948. John Hardin, Sr. served from 1948 to 1974. Johnny Bale was board chair from 2000-2003, served a year on the ACH Research Institute board and six years on the ACH Foundation board. Sharon Bale has been active in the ACH Auxiliary for years and in 2009 was elected to serve on the ACH Foundation board. The Bales’ sons, Hardin and Hunter, are ACH volunteers and members of Children’s Circle of Care. Hunter also serves on
The Bale family donated $1 million to ACH to support the fetal heart center program. The Bales made the gift after their oldest grandson, John Hardin Bale IV, was treated at the hospital. Here, John Hardin (left) plays with his cousin, Evans Bale, who was also an ACH patient.
the ACH building and grounds committee. Like ACH, the Bale Automotive Group is celebrating its centennial in 2012. Johnny Bale said the new fetal heart center will enable diagnoses before children are born, bringing together the doctors and clinical teams to treat these conditions upon birth. “This program also moves our knowledge and science forward and gives the possibility to intervene in-utero to avoid life-threatening heart defects,” he said. “The fetal heart program can prevent another parent or grandparent from walking in our shoes, and that will be glorious!” ✪
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John H. Bale, Sr. served on the ACH board from 1948-74.