John Edward Balon, age 87, of Rockville Maryland passed away on Friday, August 6, 2021 at Lorien Harmony Hall Assisted Living Center of Columbia MD. John was born August 25, 1933 in Niles Michigan, a second-generation Polish-American. He was the oldest child of John Walter Balon and Genevieve (Jean) (nee: Splawski) Balon. He is survived by his wife of 59 years Dorothy “Dot” Marie (nee: Morosky); son Kevin Gerard Balon and his wife Charlotte Jones Balon of Columbia MD and their sons John Richard Balon and Mark Ryan Balon; daughter Katherine Gerise Kelley and her husband Dennis “Butch” Ray Kelley Jr. of Spencerville MD and their daughters Grace Marie Kelley and Tess Gerise Kelley; daughter Gerette Teresa Marie Balon of Gaithersburg MD and her children Lucas Chadwick Jacobson, Alexis Marie Jacobson and Nicolas Gerard Jacobson.
He is also survived by his two siblings: JoAnn Jones (nee: Balon) and her husband Mike Jones; and Jerome (Jerry) Balon, all living outside South Bend, Indiana.
In his early years and in high-school in Niles MI, John worked as a “pin boy” who manually up-righted bowling pins at the local bowling alley before the introduction of automatic pinsetters, and worked as a technician at an electric speaker company where he developed an early interest in, and aptitude for, electronics. John proudly drove a Studebaker, built by the Studebaker Corporation where his father and other family members worked. John remained in the Niles / South Bend area until he entered the U.S. Air Force in 1954.
Upon enlisting in the Air Force, John readily applied himself to training opportunities and further honed his electronics skills, a pattern that repeated itself throughout his almost 30-year Air Force career. Skilled first as a ground radio repairman, he was stationed for three years on Okinawa Japan. With heightening Cold-War tensions, the Air Force redirected radio electronics personnel, John included, to the ballistic missile programs that protected the nation from the growing Soviet Union threat. John proudly wore his USAF “Missileman” badge, eventually becoming an instructor on the Minuteman I/II/III ICBMs and their electronic launch and digital computer systems.
While stationed at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls TX, through a friendship with fellow Airman and “Missileman” instructor, Robert “Bob” Beautz and his wife Theresa, John met Theresa’s sister and his future bride Dorothy Morosky, herself a second-generation Polish-American. Dorothy remains his lifelong wife of 59 years. As the Balon and Beautz families expanded, parents and cousins both remained close with strong family bonds due to their common Morosky heritage. In subsequent Air Force deployments, the two families were stationed together at one of the largest Air-Training-Command centers in the nation: Chanute AFB in Rantoul IL, where both John and Bob worked as ICBM training instructors. During a two year assignment to the Strategic-Air-Command at Ellsworth AFB South Dakota, John headed a repair and maintenance team for the Minuteman ICBM launch-bunker and silo-deployment systems. Returning to Chanute in the mid-1970s before his Air Force retirement, John proudly earned his Master’s Degree in Engineering Technology while serving as an Air Force instructor and missile system course developer.
By 1981 after both John and Bob retired from the Air Force and left Illinois, their families settled outside Washington DC in Rockville Maryland – where both John and Bob worked at and later retired from the Vitro Corporation, an Air Force training contractor. John’s work greatly contributed to the protection and strength of the nation in defense from the Soviet Union, eventually leading-up to the fall of the Berlin Wall in August 1989 following a series of Eastern-Bloc revolutions, including in John’s ancestral Poland.
During his retirement in Maryland for 40-years, John enjoyed time with his wife, children and grandchildren. He loved family meals, holiday gatherings, many pets and music. John was a deep thinker and a voracious reader with broad interests. He surrounded himself with books on subjects including mathematics, world history, philosophy, psychology, modern physics, the origins of human society and its religions. John spoke of the importance of education and life-long learning, and instilled that in his children and grandchildren. He took a continual, keen-interest in his children’s and grandchildren’s lives, education and extracurricular activities and will be deeply missed by everyone.
Memorial services will be private.
The family wishes to extend heartfelt appreciation to the caregivers and staff who provided care to John over the three-and-a-half years that he was cared for in assisted living at Lorien Harmony Hall Assisted Living Center of Columbia MD.
In lieu of flowers, family asks to please consider memorial donations to:
- Lorien Harmony Hall Employee Fund:
Gifts by check to: Harmony Hall ALF
In the memo line write: donation in memory of: John E Balon
Harmony Hall Assisted Living Facility / Center
6336 Cedar Lane
Columbia, MD 21044
- St. Louis School Annual Education Fund:
Online: https://www.stlouisparish.org/school/fund-for-st-louis/
Via check: The St. Louis School Annual Fund
In the memo line write: “John E. Balon Memorial Donation”
St. Louis School
12500 Clarksville Pike
Clarksville, MD 21019
- The Alzheimer's Association:
Online: https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Events/Tributes-AlzheimersChampions?pg=fund&fr_id=1060&pxfid=699396
Via check: Alzheimer's Association
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225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17
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