Troxel Lynn Ballou

Troxel Lynn Ballou, 74, passed from this life to life with Christ on September 6, 2024, surrounded by his family in his new home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, after a three-year battle with diabetes complications and kidney failure. To the end, he put his trust in Jesus Christ and did not complain or rail against his condition.

Troxel was born to Shuthelah "Walter" and Mildred "Millie" (Bailey) Ballou on September 13, 1949, in a hotel in Chama, New Mexico, having come down off the mesa where his father was working as a sawyer. Troxel always said he was a "Texan born abroad," as his family moved back to Houston two years later. He lived within the Houston city limits for the rest of his life until a couple of months before he passed, when he and his wife Kelia moved to Bowling Green to be closer to their son and his family in Bowling Green and their daughter and son-in-law in West Tennessee.

Troxel was baptized into Christ as a young man and faithfully followed God, being active in church his whole life and serving as an elder of Alston Road church of Christ for the last 18 years in the Houston area.

Troxel graduated from Lamar High School in Houston in 1967, where he was a National Merit Scholarship finalist, and graduated from Rice University in 1971 with a degree in math since Rice did not yet have a degree in his first love, computers. In the 70s, he worked as the first computer programmer for Stop 'n Go national convenience stores, and then after a brief employment with Fluor, was an independent computer consultant for the rest of his working years. He helped businesses small and large, with especially long-running contracts with Review Med and Shell Oil Company.

He married his loving wife Kelia in 1975, with whom he homeschooled his son Kennon and daughter Marla at a time before homeschooling was a popular choice. "Poppa" or "Pop" to his kids, he instilled a love of learning and of being inquisitive about the world. For years, he volunteered with Boy Scouts of America, both when Kennon was a Scout and later as an adult volunteer trainer. He was honored with the highest council award, the Silver Beaver, for his volunteering.

An interesting person with a fabulous memory, Troxel was a self-proclaimed auto-didact and polymath, learning as much as he could about a wide variety of subjects (especially the Bible). He was a voracious reader all his life, at one point in young adulthood reaching the "E's" in his journey through the dictionary. He could carry on a conversation about multiple subjects, sharing good insights about all of them. If you ever told him about a word you just learned, you could almost guarantee that he already knew it!

Though an introvert, he was hospitable, regularly enjoying inviting friends and strangers alike to eat meals at the house. He particularly loved meeting people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, delighting in learning about languages and cuisines of the world. His love of travel and experiencing different cultures prompted him to take numerous long walks in Europe, often accompanied by one of his family members (Kelia, Kennon, and Marla all got to experience at least a trip with him) or other friends. His favorite walk was finishing the last 200 miles of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in northern Spain.

Music was a lifetime love of Troxel's, both listening to classical music and playing the French horn, cornet, recorders, and hammered dulcimer, among various other instruments. His creativity motivated him to even build instruments from scratch-a hammered dulcimer, gothic harps, lap dulcimers, Finnish cantelas, etc. He also loved to sing praises to God, both in church and at Sacred Harp conventions.

God was merciful to Troxel, who is now in God's arms, awaiting the Resurrection. We were blessed to love Troxel and be loved by him. He is greatly missed!

Troxel is survived by his wife of 49½ years, Kelia Ballou of Bowling Green; his son Kennon Ballou and daughter­ in-law Chris of Bowling Green; daughter Marla Dalton and son-in-law Jonathan of Covington, Tennessee; grandsons Kilian and Florian Ballou, granddaughter Mari Ballou, sister Marsha (Karl) Haas, brother Kevin Ballou, extended family, and many friends who were like family to him. Troxel is preceded in death by his parents Walter and Millie Ballou and his brother Brian Ballou.

No services are planned. The fabulous Going Away party that his Houston congregation gave Kelia and him in the spring may be remembered also as a memorial to him, as well as his parting rally: Be All IN for the lord! In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice in Troxel's honor. His family thanks each one of you for your kindnesses to them.