Ben was born October 18, 1965, in Athens, Greece to Richard and Maryanne Battock. He is survived by his wife Sandy, son David, mother Maryanne, and sisters Bonnie Lucio and Beth Crowner.
Being born into an Air Force family, Ben had the opportunity to live in several places including California, Spain, and Indiana. Ben went to Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill Indiana, and graduated college from University of Evansville (go Purple Aces!) in 1987. He then moved to Tucson in 1988 where he met his future wife, Sandy. Ben and Sandy relocated to the Phoenix area after they were married in November of 1990.
After playing tennis through high school and college, tennis remained his passion. Ben continued to play competitively in Tucson and in Phoenix. He took a hiatus from tennis shortly after his son, David was born. When David began T-Ball with Ahwatukee Little League, Ben put on his coaching hat. He remained coaching in the league for 9 years. While coaching, he was elected President of Ahwatukee Little League.
Tennis came back to the forefront when David made his high school tennis team. You can take the boy out of tennis, but you can’t take the tennis out of the boy! Ben picked up the racket again, found a city league, and entered tournaments whenever he could - hard courts, clay, or grass; count him in! Ben and David soon became a doubles duo to be feared! Like father, like son!
Other than sports, Ben enjoyed family time. Playing family games, bowling, miniature golf, shooting pool, watching college football at sports bars, and even taking his son to an Alice in Chains concert! His family was precious to him.
Ben will be very missed by so many!
