Staff at LaFollette Dining whisked around the residence hall's kitchen Friday morning preparing meals for the upcoming lunch rush.
Operations continued like normal despite some of the employees having been among the 4,000 people who attended the wake for one of their co-workers the night before.
On March 21, a neighbor of Dining employee Garth Rector found him shot to death in his home, Lt. Robert Pyle of the Delaware County Sheriff's Department said in a Thursday interview.
Tim Radtke, unit manager for LaFollette Dining, said the death of the former stock clerk still seemed "surreal" a week after it happened.
"Being that this is still so fresh, it's hard to know how to feel," he said. "I go to make a change to a stock order and go to write him a note, then I realize he's not there. I guess we just all hope they solve who did this."
Rector worked for Ball State University for 26 years, Radtke said. Rector had worked at Woodworth Dining Complex before it closed for renovations. He then moved to LaFollette Dining where he worked as a stock clerk, Radtke said.
Although he'd worked for Ball State for more than a quarter of a century, Rector's family is what mattered most to him.
"He has a daughter; she was his life," co-worker Mary McWhorter said.
Physical fitness was another top concern for Rector, whose co-workers said he spent a lot of his spare time working out at the YMCA.
"Being a stock clerk, it's a tough, physical job," Radtke said. "He was able to keep up with anybody, even if they were 20 years younger."
Rector would participate in almost any sport, according to his colleagues, but especially enjoyed wrestling.
Co-worker Greg Vargo said he would always bring a competitive attitude to anything in which he competed.
"Last year we had a student/employee touch [football] game. On the second play, he broke his arm," Vargo said. "He played the whole game. He just had that drive."
Despite his competitive demeanor, Rector wasn't without his soft spots and was always willing to step in and help out a friend when needed, Vargo said.
"I once had a flat tire after work," Vargo said. "He took me to Tire Barn and waited for the truck with me. He was that type of person. He would go well out of his way."
Co-worker Terri Skaggs-May said Rector always had brought a sense of humor to work with him.
"We have a mirror around the time clock. He would always stand there putting lotion on in front of the mirror," Skaggs-May said. "He started joking with me last fall. 'Now you look awful' he would say, or something that would get me going. Garth came into work joking every day."
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