Browning Lamar Ball Jr

Browning Lamar Ball, Jr. died on March 26, 2017 in Denton, Texas. Born in the small town of Troy, Tennessee on August 1, 1940, to Browning and Mozelle Ball, he and his sister Kerry grew up a half mile away from the banks of the Mississippi River in West Tennessee. He graduated from Tiptonville High School in 1958 and had his first job working at the Jones Grocery Store in Tiptonville. Lamar received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1962. While in college he met Paula Richardson whom he married in 1963. That same year he began his 35 year career in banking at C&S Bank in Atlanta, Georgia where he was put in charge of bookkeeping. His first sons, David and Shannon, arrived in 1964 and 1969 respectively. He attended the Harvard Business School Program for Management Development in 1970. Shortly thereafter, his children Jason (1972) and Allison (1975) were born. Lamar began his Texas journey in 1979 when he moved his family to Houston where he accepted a position with the Bank of the Southwest. His only Texas born progeny, Meredith, was born in 1980. The family moved on to Fort Worth when he became the CEO of MBank Fort Worth in 1984. From there, Lamar served as the Chairman and CEO of First State Bank of Texas in Denton beginning in 1989 before retiring from his banking career in 1998. Lamar married Barbara on April 5, 1996 and added to the family her daughters, Angie and Jill Jester. Lamar is survived by his devoted wife of over 20 years, Barbara Ball of Denton, TX.; son David Ball and wife Jennifer of Chicago, IL.; son Shannon Ball and wife Joanna of Denver, CO.; son Jason Ball and wife Sabrina of Ft. Worth, TX.; daughter Allison Ball Bertorelli and husband Luke of Ft. Worth, TX.; daughter Meredith Ball Martin of Heath, TX.; stepdaughter Jill Jester and husband Chris; grandchildren Nathan, Kaylan, Olan, Lulu, Alexandra, Olivia, Wyatt, Ian, Tommy, Lilah and Charlie; sister Kerry Bleeker and husband Leroy of Benbrook, TX.; and numerous nieces and cousins.