George Ballas

George Charles Ballas Sr. (June 28, 1925 – June 25, 2011) was an American entrepreneur. He invented the first string trimmer, known as the Weed Eater in 1971.^[1] He was the father of ballroom dancer, Corky Ballas, and grandfather of professional dancer Mark Ballas of Dancing with the Stars.^[2]

George Ballas
Born	George Charles Ballas (1925-06-28)June 28, 1925 Ruston, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	June 25, 2011(2011-06-25) (aged 85) Houston, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	Founder of Weed Eater
Spouse	Maria Marulanda ​ (m. 1951)​
Children	5, including Corky Ballas
Relatives	Mark Ballas (grandson)
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1942–1953
Commands	Bombardier and Second Lt. and OSI Agent
Battles / wars	World War II Korean War

Early life

Ballas was born in Ruston, Louisiana. He was the son of Karolos ("Charles") Ballas and Maria (née Lymnaios), who were Greek immigrants that ran a restaurant.^[3] His brother is Peter Ballas.

He enlisted in the United States Army at the age of 17 in 1942 during World War II and was a bombardier.^[1] Ballas would later serve in the Korean War.

Family

He married Maria Marulanda who was of Mexican and Spanish descent in 1951.

He had five children, including Corky Ballas.

His grandson Mark Ballas is a dancer in Dancing with the Stars. He had six other grandchildren.

Inventor

Ballas got the idea for the trimmer while driving through an automatic car wash, where the rotating brushes gave him an idea. Using a tin can laced with fishing line and an edge trimmer, he tried out his idea, which worked. After some refinements, he shopped it around to several tool makers, who all rejected his invention. He went on to develop the garden tool himself. The first year, sales were over a half million dollars. By 1977 they were $80 million, and Ballas sold his company the following year to Emerson Electric Company.^[4]