Captain Eric J. Balliet made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty on September 27, 2017.

Eric J. Balliet was born May 19, 1976, to Gail and Deborah Balliet. He married Alicia Zimmerman on October 28, 2006. Eric and Alicia had a set of twins, Alyssa and Lucas, eight years of age.

Eric grew up around the Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department north of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his grandfather, father, and three uncles were all active members. Eric joined Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department and became a paramedic at age eighteen.

Eric went on to work for Three Rivers Ambulance Authority for three years. When Eric was 22 years old, he became a Fort Wayne firefighter. Through his career, he was on the dive team and was an arson investigator. Eric was the first in his class to promote. He would have been promoted to battalion chief in February 2018 and was posthumously promoted at his funeral.

Along with Eric’s first love of being a firefighter, he was an eighteen-year veteran of the Allen County Indiana Sheriff’s Reserve, where he was a captain in the traffic division at the time of his passing. Eric became a deputy coroner in August of 2006 and a paid part-time deputy coroner in July of 2009. He was still active with the coroner’s office.

In August of 2000, Eric started donating time to the Great Lakes Burn Camp, where he was still active as dean of campers.

Eric and Alicia were members of the Pathway Community Church. Eric loved his family, God, and his fellow firefighters and police officers. Eric would light up a room when he walked in the door.

He was kind, generous, quick-witted, and would go out of his way to help anybody, on duty and off.

He is deeply missed by his wife, Alicia Balliet; his daughter, Alyssa Balliet; his son, Lucas Balliet; his father, Gail Balliet; his stepmother, Elaine Balliet; his mother, Deborah Armento; his stepfather, Tommy Armento; his brother, Aaron Balliet; his stepsister, Tina Willis; and numerous extended family members, friends, and co-workers.