Ruth Nelson, who moved to Ballard after World War II and lived in her Sunset Hill home for six decades, lived a life of adventure that took her all over the globe. But at the end of the day, she found there is simply no place like Ballard.

Nelson grew up in a family of Kansas farmers. She said life there was far different than one in Ballard.

"We have no trees in Kansas," she said. "But, it has its beauty."

Nelson was a teacher during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. She said she remembers sweeping dirt and snakes out of the classroom every morning before the students arrived.

During World War II, Nelson worked in a Denver factory making bullets. President Roosevelt personally visited the factory one day to thank the workers for their help, she said.

"They brought him in on a big flatbed," Nelson said. "There sat Roosevelt with his hat on and his cloak with his cigarette in his hand and his little dog."

After the war, Nelson headed west for adventure, settling in Ballard, she said.

When she arrived in Ballard, it was almost entirely Scandinavian, she said.

"It was a delightful village," Nelson said. "I called it a village."

Nelson said she remembers seeing fishermen getting drinks on Ballard Avenue before heading out on their boats and the many stores and coffee shops that sprang up there.

"Ballard Avenue has been the most exciting street," she said.

Rutha Thomas, Nelson's friend and former neighbor, said she always referred to Nelson as a neighborhood historian.

Thomas said Nelson would remember the bulldozers tearing down the trees on Sunset Hill in the 1940s to make way for new homes, one of which Nelson and her husband John, a Seattle policeman, bought in 1949.

Nelson said the houses built on Sunset Hill at that time were constructed with the same pattern, and many of them still look alike.

"When we would have parties, people would get mixed up and not know which house to go into," she said.

With Ballard as a base, Nelson and her husband travelled the world, starting with a cruise to the South Pacific in the 1950s.

Nelson said they took more than 100 cruises and countless other trips over the years. She said she has seen all of the United States and visited every continent, including Antarctica.

"The penguins were so friendly and so thick you could hardly step around them," she said.

Nelson said her husband's family came from Norway to Ballard in 1901. She and John visited Norway at least a dozen times in 50 years, she said.

"All Scandinavian countries are beautiful countries with beautiful people," Nelson said.

Thomas said Nelson's travels even extended to her own backyard. Nelson liked to take the bus to other areas of Seattle and play tourist, Thomas said.

But, between the rest of the world and Ballard, Nelson said there is no comparison.

"There's no place like Ballard," she said.

In Ballard, you can drive west on Market Street and see a stunning view of the Olympic Mountains, Nelson said. Up until recently, you could get everything you wanted that was made by Scandinavians at Olsen's Scandinavian Foods.

Ballard is home to intellectual people, the Nordic Heritage Museum and Bergen Place, she said.

Nelson moved out of her Ballard home of 60 years in September and is now living in the Northgate Plaza Retirement Community.

She said she still visits Ballard occasionally to pick up prescriptions, but right now she is focusing on her new home.

"I've gone now, and I've settled here," she said. "This is where I will probably live the rest of my life."

Nelson said she remains fond of Ballard, but the neighborhood is changing, with old sights disappearing and high-rises replacing them.

"It doesn't look like Ballard to me anymore," she said.

Thomas said the neighborhood lost a dear historian, educator, hostess and friend when Nelson moved away.

"She was a great neighbor who welcomed many new residents for decades," Thomas said. "She never met a stranger."