His maternal grandfather, Charles Rath, was the namesake of Rath City, Texas. Balenti's mother was born of Charles Rath's marriage to a Cheyenne woman named Making-Out-Roads. Balenti himself was born of his mother's marriage to a Hungarian immigrant. Charles Rath's later marriage to a white woman bore him a son named Morrie Rath, against whom Balenti played in the American League without knowing they were related.[1][2]
Balenti married an Alaska Native, Cecilia Baronovich, whom he met while attending Carlisle Indian School. They lived among the Cheyenne in Oklahoma part-time and among Cecilia's people in Alaska during the off-seasons. On at least one occasion it took Balenti two months to travel from his minor league club's home in Chattanooga to his off-season home in Alaska. After retirement, he worked in construction in Altus, Oklahoma.[3]
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