Gene Ballentine Rooks

Gene Ballentine Rooks, 81, died April 10, 2014. She was born in Orlando to Corbin and Thelma Ballentine and lived her entire life in Central Florida. She was a devoted wife and mother, who embodied the teachings of Christ every day of her life.

Even though Gene was offered a Rollins College scholarship, following her graduation from Orlando High School she chose instead to marry her true “other half,” Victor Bert Rooks. They met when Gene’s mother brought her along while shopping at the local A&P grocery to show Gene the handsome young man working at the meat counter. Gene was selling raffle tickets for a hand iron, which Bert gladly bought from the sweet young lady. She made sure her name and phone number were written on the back of the raffle ticket. After their first date, it became apparent to each of them that this was “The One”. While Bert didn’t win the iron, he clearly won the bigger prize.

Over the next 40 years she successfully combined marriage, children and a career with GMAC until retiring and beginning the next phase of her life. Gene loved learning and digging beneath the surface to get answers, a talent that she had honed during her many years working in finance. She applied these skills when she began tracing her family’s genealogy. Several decades of meticulous research resulted in four books containing the details of her family’s lineage along with many wonderful anecdotes and pictures that showed her ancestors as the multi-dimensional people they were.

Gene’s strong Christian faith led her to teach Sunday School her entire adult life, first at Delaney Street Baptist for 30+ years, and then at First Baptist of Central Florida for 15+ years. Her love of Christ and her keen curiosity led her to become a Bible scholar. She wasn’t satisfied with simply knowing; she had to understand. She loved sharing her faith and wanted to make it easy for her grandsons to grasp God’s message. This led to her crowning achievement of producing a condensed version of the Bible that included all the Old Testament stories and teachings without the lengthy lineages, the Gospels blended in chronological order, and her own commentary on the importance of various passages.

After her faith, Gene’s love for her family was her greatest joy. Her children cherished her unlimited forgiveness, patience and depth of love. Her pride in her grandsons held no bounds, and she was exceedingly pleased that they all pursued some level of higher education after high school, even including one Fulbright Scholar and one pursuing a Pastoral Masters degree.

Gene’s quest for knowledge and ability to embrace change never waned. After retiring, she taught herself to use a personal computer and applied her ever-increasing technical skills to conduct research, manage investments, trace genealogy and stay connected to her family and friends through social media. In addition to the earlier writings mentioned, Gene had several articles on a variety of topics published in newspapers and magazines. She also made family quilts for births, weddings and keepsakes, and loved working in her yard, where she cultivated a beautiful landscape of flowering plants. She was well-informed and had definite opinions on political issues and current events, and was able to discuss even the most controversial topics in an intelligent, civil manner.

Gene was a lifelong Gator football fan. Four generations have enjoyed watching home games from the family seats on the 50 yard line, a heritage she received from her father who attended UF in his youth. It was a special point of pride when her grandson was accepted there as well. She and Bert’s 50th wedding anniversary is even commemorated on one of the many bricks outside “The Swamp”.

Gene is survived by her husband Bert; children Robin Black, Stephen Rooks (Jodie), and Carol Porter (Ken); grandsons Jason Rooks (Amy), Justin Reeves, Michael Porter, Cameron Black, Corbin Rooks, Stephen Porter and Samuel Rooks; brother David Ballentine (Maureen); brothers-in-law William and Gerald (Mary Jane); nine nieces and nephews; and many cousins.

To say Gene will be missed is so inadequate, as the hole left in our lives is so great. Our grieving hearts will never completely heal from the loss of not having her with us, but we know we will see her sweet smile again someday in God’s Kingdom.

Arrangements under the direction of Woodlawn Memorial Park & Funeral Home, Gotha, FL.