Danny Wayne Ballard

Daniel "Danny" Wayne Ballard was born October 25, 1966 and died September 19, 2023. He was 56 years old. Danny graduated High School in Noble, OK and attended OSU in Stillwater. He is survived by his parents, Ray Ballard of Wagoner and Ruth Tate of Owasso. He is also survived by a daughter, Ashleigh Brood and her husband Rick, along with their infant daughter, Lillian of Broken Arrow and a son, Chance Ballard of Coweta and their mother, Renee Ballard of Broken Arrow. Danny is also survived by a brother and two sisters: Mitch Ballard of Tulsa and his wife Cara; Michelle Pendleton of Claremore, and Angela Hopkins and her husband Robert, of Little Rock, AR. Danny also is survived by numerous nephews and nieces. He loved dogs and had several during his lifetime. He leaves his beloved chocolate Lab, Daisy, to Chance; who actually bought her for him. And, Chance has a grown puppy out of Daisy. So, Gunner and Daisy can romp together, and probably are, right now! Danny was the youngest of Ray and Ruth's four children and earned the nickname "MudBug" early on when the Fred Arbogast fishing lure company released their deep diving crankbait in the 1970s. He loved hunting and fishing and was an avid collector of guns and old fishing lures. We could spend hours talking about that. A proud father and new grandfather, Danny got a kick out of watching Chance play little league baseball and soccer. Loved watching Ashleigh playing little league softball and right up until the end, he enjoyed Lilly's company since they were living with him. Danny was a John Wayne fanatic. He could quote every line from almost every movie before the Duke could say it himself on screen. As everybody here knows, Danny loved Mountain Dew. Danny also liked playing poker and was known to gamble a little bit every now and then. Wink, wink, nod, nod. He also liked to turn baseball cards and Beanie Babies for fun and profit. He became the manager of a pawn shop, and even though he was an uncertified gemologist, he could look at a precious stone and tell you its value. That skill led him to eventually become a salesman at Moody's Jewelry. He really liked wheeling and dealing with customers. When he worked at the pawn shop Danny bought an antique pocket watch with an inscription from Wyatt Earp to Doc Holiday and the piece was interesting enough for a television show to fly him to Tombstone, AZ for an on-camera interview and subsequent forensic investigation to determine if it was real or fake. The experts couldn't determine without documentation but acknowledged it was period correct and that people have been counterfeiting objects since the dawn of time. Danny was once the butt of a prank phone call from the famous Roy D. Mercer of KMOD radio. He was a good sport and took it in stride. It was re-played several times and always got a lot of laughs. He always bragged about being an excellent marksman. His truck's vanity plate was "GR8SHOT" and one of the first times he ever went duck hunting, Danny bagged two mallard drakes with one blast. Of course, we never heard the end of it! Among his many physical ailments, Danny held the unofficial world record for documented kidney stones, with two trips to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

Tributes

Danny Wayne Ballard

October 25, 1966 - September 19, 2023