Roger Kent Ballinger

1959 - 2016

Roger Kent Ballinger, 57, passed Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016. Service: 11:30 a.m. Monday at Biggers Funeral Home. Burial: Greenwood Memorial Park, 3100 White Settlement, Fort Worth 76107. Visitation: 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Biggers Funeral Home. Roger Kent Ballinger, "Big Pop," "Bob Builder," "Big Rog," loving brother, husband, father and grand-father, amazing master plumber that worked hard to play hard. He fought his way through his motorcycle endure career, then moved on to dirt track racing at Boyd Raceway on Fridays, then would turn around and hit Cowtown Speedway on Saturdays. He learned plenty of life lessons going around that oval: when to shoot the gap, when to take it easy and just observe and, then when it was called for it, to use brute force. With all that, he learned he even had time to make life-long friends along the way. Still to this day, there are people who recall seeing Roger race at different times. But, as life moved on and everyone started getting older, softball was the next competitive sport to be conquered. Roger coached and helped develop numerous girls into young ladies. He showed them that when you work hard and show patience you can fight and conquer anything. He showed the same value with his work. He put in his hours at Sundance Square for 18 years. When they called, he worked because he knew others were counting on him and his trade. Also, even if he had put in a full day's work, had a race or if we had a game, if an individual called and needed his help, Roger would load up his work trailer and head right to them. It didn't matter if it was a leaky faucet, stopped up toilet or water heater that went out, no matter the time or day, he would be there. The services he provided to his community alone touched the lives of many people. When softball was done and racing had been argued out of the picture, there was another competition that took over Roger's "free time" - Competition Bar-B-Que! Roger cooked for the tail-gates, birthdays and company parties, but then, with much encouragement and support from his family and friends, he made the move to "KatDaddy" cooking. This was another chapter in his life where he was all in. That was how he rolled, all or nothing. Roger did the local cook-offs, every year started with Cops for Kids Cook-off, but he traveled out as well. When he headed out, he headed out. He did the Eighter from Decatur, then started the planning process for being in New Mexico for the end of the year cook-off. Hitting Dumas on the way out was a good time as well. At the cook-offs, it was tradition for Roger and his neighbors to have a big dinner the night before. He invited everyone he knew and those people would invite their friends; that night was always a great time. The morning of the competition, Roger cooked a breakfast fit for a king and invited all the neighboring cooks to come and get a plate. We think that's how he earned himself even more friends and companions. Roger didn't care if they were all cooking against each other that day, he knew that he wanted biscuits and gravy and that's what everyone would have. Every year, if people knew that "KatDaddy" was there, they would check with him and see what they needed to bring for dinner or for breakfast or, sometimes both! He always said "when it came to cooking, it's always better to have too much, than not enough." In the end, we think that applied to more than just cooking, it is the gift he left us in life. He taught us to love each other too much, so there is never any doubt that we are loved enough. Those preceding Roger in passing are his father, Milburn "Duncan" Ballinger; and his mother Bessie "Granny" Ballinger. Survivors: Wife, Trish; son, Jake, and wife, Naomi and daughter, Shayleigh; daughter, Cristina Gallagher, and husband, Jason and two sons, Jayden and Calvin; brother, J.B., and wife, Kat; brother, Alan and wife, Colette; sister, Joanne; numerous nieces and nephews; Princey; and a host of extended family and friends.