Engine builder Mark Batten of Rocky Mount, N.C., died Thursday at UNC Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C., after a brief illness. He was 61.

Batten, an employee of Eatmon Racing Engines for 20 years, owned and operated Battenbilt Racing Engines, which provided winning powerplants for Late Model racers in the Carolinas and beyond for many years.

"His zest for life and generous nature will be missed by all who knew him," his obituary from Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home read.

Crystal Milliken, the wife of longtime racer and Battenbilt customer Willie Milliken, wrote on Facebook a tribute how Batten "cared about his customers and his friends" with extraordinary efforts to help Milliken's racing.

"I don’t know any engine builder, much less many people, that would really care that much," she wrote. "Mark provided a personal approach and touch with his business that is part of a dying breed. The racing community is going to miss that."

Survivors include his wife Barbara Cooke Batten, three children and five grandchildren. Visitation is 4-7 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at Wheeler & Woodlief Funeral Home in Rocky Mount; the funeral is 11 a.m. Monday, June 7, at the funeral home with burial to follow Forest Hill Cemetery in Nashville, N.C. Find a complete obituary at wheelerwoodlief.com.