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Norman Balot Obituary
Louisville - Norman Balot, 86, of Louisville, KY, died on September 30, 2019. Born on December 21, 1932, in New York, NY, Norman was the second child of Irving Balot and Esther Bicks Balot. He is survived by his beloved wife of 41 years, Joan (Britt) Balot; son Greg Balot (wife Kris Balot) of Polk City, FL; son Randy Balot of Asheville, NC; stepdaughter Susanne Howe (partner Larry Magnes) of Louisville, KY; stepdaughter Melissa Milby (husband Perry Milby) of Bowling Green, KY; brother Charles Balot (wife Sharon Balot) of Los Angeles, CA; sister Celeste Balot Rusin (husband John Rusin) of Toms River, NJ; sister-in-law Judith Balot of Boynton Beach, FL; grandchildren Kelly Howe, Ryan Howe, Christopher Balot, Andrew Balot, Megan Balot, and Michael Balot; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, and treasured friends. He was preceded in death by his brother Edwin Balot, his sister Marion Horowitz, and his granddaughter Crystal Love. Norman received his bachelor's degree from City College of New York (now CUNY) and a master's degree from Columbia University. A trained psychologist, he eventually became the Director of the Division for the Visually Impaired for the State of Delaware. After Norman retired and moved to Louisville, he continued his advocacy work on the boards of Visually Impaired Preschool Services, Seven Counties Services, and TARC3 Parantransit Service and as an administrative hearing officer for the Kentucky Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Blind Services Division. Norman was an intercollegiate wrestling champion (undefeated in his final year at CCNY), a 1996 Olympic torch relay runner, a master bridge player, a member of the St. Matthews Lions Club, and a skilled piano tuner. Norman will be dearly missed by all who loved him. Thank you to the staff of Treyton Oak Towers and Hosparus of Louisville for their care and support. A memorial reception and service will be held at Treyton Oak Towers, 211 W. Oak St., Louisville, KY, on November 9, 2019 (reception: 2-5 pm; memorial service: 5 pm). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Alzheimer's Association (alz.org) or Ski for Light (https://www.sfl.org/).
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Memories and Condolences
for Norman Balot
Sponsored by The Courier-Journal.
5 Entries
Max Limbocker
October 2, 2020
Norm was a very good friend and one of my favorite bridge partners of course we played with Braille cards he was as happy as me when we won one of our favorite conversation topics was Jeopardy he (watched) it every night
Kirsten Schmidt
November 11, 2019
Norman was one of the best people I have known.
He will be missed by so many including me. He gave so much to the field of vision, the Lions and friends and family. I will never forget working with him on Ombudsman activities for the Office for the Blind, bowling at the St. Matthews Lions Bowl-a-thon, sharing dinner at Dinner Club and watching him carry the Olympic Torch. Rest in peace my friend and we will take care of Joan.
Bob Rieman
November 9, 2019
I learned more about life from Norm Ballot than anybody I have known. Norm was blind but in my mind he was not handicapped. On one occasion he said "Bob sometimes I can see better than you can". I believed him. What I liked about Norm was the fact that he did not let his disability get in his way. One evening, I took him to a sports store where he bought a pair of ski pants. He carried the torch for the Olympics. Norm loved baseball. There was a leather goods store across the street from his office. The owner also sold Phillies tickets and ran a bus to the game. The owner would give Norm his personal seats which were right behind the opposing team dugout. On one occasion we were at the game and Norm started yelling "Yogi,Yogi". Yogi Berra came over to Norm. He wanted to know how someone like Norm "watched" a baseball game. Norm explained how he had a radio and listened to the game play-by-play and also enjoyed the aroma of peanuts popcorn hot dogs and pretzels. On one occasion, Norm also flew a small plane briefly. He flew back to Wilmington to be the best man at my wedding. I have many other stories about our friendship and I will never forget Norm. He made me a better person and I will always treasure our friendship.
Seymour Holtzman
November 1, 2019
Norman Balot was my friend since we were team mates on the CCNY Wrestling Team. My wife and I extend our deep condolences to Joan and the family.
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