Thomas Michael Balnis

Tom Balnis died peacefully in his home in Kansas City, MO on February 25, 2017 of Parkinson’s Disease at age 74. He is survived by his beloved wife of 48 years, Ria Zeidler Balnis; son Stevan and his wife Leslie; and daughter Julia. He was Opa to Robert and Jack. He was preceded in death by parents Michael and Pauline Balnis, Aunt Stella and Uncle John Bervid. Tom was born on September 2, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in Independence, MO. Because of his willingness to serve and sacrifice, he enlisted in the army after high school. First deployment: Vietnam. For his second deployment, he chose Germany, where he met Ria on May 1, 1965 at the May Day Dance. Tom stayed in Germany as a Military Police Officer for an additional year. Afterwards, Tom and Ria spent a year traveling all across Europe, including Turkey, Greece and Yugoslavia, where he met a very special lifelong friend Stevan Blagojevich. Tom led Ria on some very exciting adventures. Tom returned to Kansas City while Ria finished college in Germany. They wrote weekly letters for over a year. Ria moved to Kansas City in 1968 in the midst of riots, they married shortly afterwards on May 1 of the same year. Their son Stevan was born in 1972, Julia was born in 1979 which made their family complete. Continuing to serve his country, Tom joined the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department in 1967. He completed his criminal justice degree from Central Missouri State University, Warrensburg in 1976. During his career in law enforcement, he worked in the research, motorcycle and canine unit. He was a member of the Peace Officers Association and retired after 30 years as a Sergeant in 1997. Tom owned many properties and was active in Landlords Inc. of Kansas City. He served as their president and was honored with the title Landlord of the Year. One of Tom’s passions was trains which he enjoyed watching for hours in Europe. After his retirement, his love of trains lead him to volunteer his time at the Belton, Grandview and Kansas City Railroad where he was an engineer. His willingness to teach others lead to many friendships, especially his dear friend Ali Modarres. Tom was known as the go-to-guy when help was needed, be it advice or a loan. He was kind, generous, lenient, and always interested in people, had friendships with his children’s friends and even his tenants. His wonderful sense of humor never left him even though he was bed-ridden the last sixteen months of his life. A special thanks goes to his most loyal friends who spent a lot of time visiting Tom while he continued his last year at home, Larry Bennett Mehroo and Russi Bhesania, Ali Modarres and Ingrid Kelley .His family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made for the research of Parkinson’s through the Michael J. Fox Foundation.