Dennis Lynn Ball

Dennis L. Ball, age 61 of Knoxville, died Saturday, April 22, 2023. Dennis was a member of Living Waters Baptist Church.  He was preceded in death by his father, Clyde Hayes "C.H." Ball; grandparents, Kermit and Gertrude Ball and grandson, Zach Branam. Our hearts are forever broken with the tragic loss of the foundation to our family. How do you put into words how much someone meant to you and the life lessons we all learned from this man? Married thirty years to the love of his life, Donna, whom he cherished beyond words and protected fiercely, all while helping raise 3 wild boys made for telling “growing up with Dennis” stories fun around the dinner table. Serving our country in the Navy for six years, Dennis always made sure he would raise their boys into becoming fine young men. Each one of them can tell you stories of mowing, excessive yard work and you better make sure your bed was made and that you can “bounce a quarter off of it!” He raised them with a firm hand but yet, compassionate heart and all three will tell you that if it wasn’t for Dennis coming into their life, they wouldn’t be the men they are today. But his pride and joy was his daughter Brittany. Their bond was something special and impactful. Dennis’ love for hiking, the Smokey Mountains, UT Football, but most importantly his love for our Heavenly Father was passed on and shared by Brittany. You could always find them up to something on the weekend and continuing to strengthen their unbreakable father/daughter bond. He loved his children so much and loved all his grandchildren even more. He was always the loudest cheerleader at his grandchildren’s games. So much so, that often the referees would know him on a first name bases. Bragging about his children and grandchildren came naturally to him because of his passion for family. Our family has always admired how much he loved all of us. Often times when we would have family gatherings or get together for holidays, you could look over and catch Dennis looking over his family and smiling so lovingly at us all together. Those smiles and laughs were so genuine that just watching him admire his family would fill you with so much comfort that we had him to love us. My goodness, how blessed we were to be loved by him! At those family gatherings, he would ALWAYS lead our family in prayer. We also were guaranteed to get “One of Dennis’ speeches” And right before he would start he would always promise to keep it short but that was always met with a few laughs from us because we all knew that wasn’t true and it was guaranteed he was going to start crying. Every. Single. Time. Tears.  Why? Because he spoke with so much conviction with his words straight from GOD. He was unapologetically GOD fearing! He never missed a Sunday at Living Waters Baptist Church to sing, worship, and shout just how much he loved his Father!  He walked the walk and talked the talk. We were all blessed to have known him and although we wish we would of gotten more time, we know this won’t be the last time we hear one of his speeches. The next one will just be when we are all breaking bread with our Heavenly Father. Dennis is survived by his beloved wife, Donna K. Ball; sons, Michael Branam, Jason (Amy) Branam and Jeremy (Megan) Branam; daughter, Brittany Ball; mother, Ernestine Faye Mantooth; grandchildren, Callaway Branam, Kailyn Branam, Hadley Branam, Haisley Branam, Leelend Branam, Jack Branam, Emma Branam and Lane Branam; great granddaughter, Elena Branam; brothers, Travis Morgan and Chris Ball; sister, Kim Ball. The family will receive friends from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Wednesday, April 26, 2023, at Mynatt Funeral Home, Halls Chapel with funeral service to follow. Reverend Randy Gault officiating. Family and friends will meet 2:00 PM Thursday, April 27, 2023 at Shady Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, 920 Old Stage Road, Rogersville, TN 37857 for a graveside interment service. Online condolences may be sent to www.mynattfh.com. Arrangements provided by Mynatt Funeral Home, Halls Chapel.