Edward E. Ballenger Jr., a retired insurance manager and accountant, died Sept. 27 of complications of heart and kidney failure at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin. He was 65 and had lived in Ocean Pines for four years. He was a former Phoenix resident.

He retired from the Joint Insurance Association in Baltimore where he had worked from 1983 to 1997. He was a former bank examiner for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and owned restaurants in Suitland and LaPlata in the 1970s.

Born in Washington, he was a 1955 graduate of Blair High School in Montgomery County. He graduated from Southwestern University in the district in 1959 with an accounting degree.

He played bridge, pinochle and poker.

He is survived by his wife of 12 years, the former Linda Cromwell; a son, Matt "Rick" Ballenger of Severna Park; four daughters, Cindy Dukes of Stevensville, Valerie Thacker of Huntingtown, Wendy Subasic of Ellicott City and Susan Mueller of Seattle; a stepdaughter, Lori Vacek of Abingdon; a sister, Dolores Cockrell of Ocean City; and 12 grandchildren.

Services were held Monday.