Kon Balin

1923 - 2023

Kon Balin
June 24, 1923 - May 31, 2023
Kon Balin was a man one did not forget. His uniqueness was not invented, it was the essence of the man himself.
Konstantin Balabushkin was born in 1923 in Harbin, China after his father, an officer in the Russian Army, escaped with his young wife. Another child, Ludmilla, was born shortly thereafter and the family immigrated to Japan in 1925. Kostia, as he was called, attended St. Joseph's run by American Marianist Brothers. He added English as a third language along with Russian and Japanese. He excelled in academics and athletics and was an avid performer in school stage productions. He graduated from high school in 1941 planning to attend university in the United States. No ships were leaving Japan but Shanghai was a free and open port. So Kostia and his father left for Shanghai to wait for passage to the States. The war began on December 7 th and those plans were dashed.
Kon was a "Stateless" person, not an enemy of Japan, and was allowed to live freely. He enrolled at St. John's University receiving an allowance from his parents until money lost all value. Konstantin was on his own. Shanghai was now a city of starving people and yet, by his wits, he survived. When the war ended, he had an education and no job, so he went to work for the U.S. Army as a typist. He was contacted by the Red Cross and notified that his family had survived the war and he was allowed to return to Japan.
His first job was as a manager for a social club owned by an ex-classmate, then he was hired by a British Trading company. Konstantin decided to open his own company and named it Konwal. Because he was born in China, under the Chinese quota that was miles long, Konstantin made a life for himself enjoying the lively night life and developing his business. Having changed his name to a shorter version, Kon Balin, he applied for a visa under the newly passed Hungarian Relief Act which allowed refugees from European Communist countries to enter the United States. On Christmas Eve, 1956, a kind immigration officer stretched the rules and signed the paper allowing Kon to enter the United States. He kissed the ground in Hawaii before joining his family in San Francisco.
He opened a small office with a sign reading, "Konwal Company, Importers". His natural abilities and energy propelled his small business into a modicum of success. He met and married Yvonne Vaughn in 1965 and it was with Yvonne's help and suggestions that Kon narrowed his products to Floral Supplies. With that change Konwal Company flourished. Yvonne and Kon welcomed two children and their life prospered. All was well until Yvonne became tragically ill and passed away in 1977 leaving Kon to care for his two young children. He reared them with help of their beloved housekeeper, Estella Wilkins, and the Vaughn family. When his children were grown, he married Linda Stewart. That marriage ended in divorce. Kon married Arlene Rubens Balin in 1996, a widow with six adult children. They traveled the world. They spent weekends and vacations in their home in Sonoma and in the early 2000s moved full time to Sonoma enjoying the many friends they met there. They moved to Menlo Park in 2019 to be closer to family.
Kon was a member of the Olympic Club for over fifty years. Kon exercised there three times a week well into his late eighties. He was a longtime patron of the San Francisco Symphony, and a man who planted and nurtured a plentiful vegetable garden in Sonoma. Kon Balin prided himself in never being bored.
Kon died suddenly just three weeks before his 100th birthday. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister Lala, and his first wife Yvonne. He is survived by his two children, Erik Balin and Nicole Balin as well as Erik's daughter Kaia. His wife of twenty-seven years, Arlene Rubens Balin, also survives him as do her children, John (Lucia), Gregory (Kathleen), Paul (Izumi), Phyllis Zakrajsek (Marc), Richard (Kit) and Steven and grandchildren, Patrick Rubens, Emily Hudson (Kobi), John Rubens, Hayato Rubens, Zoe, Sidney and Cooper Rubens and Marshall and Lucas Rubens.
All of us will miss Kon every day of our lives. He was a man who gave freely without letting any gift be known. He was intelligent, handsome, elegant and loads of fun.
May Kon Balin finally be at peace with no responsibilities and may God bless him for all eternity.
Interment will be private. A memorial Mass will be held on Friday, July 7, 2023 at 11:00 A.M. St. Denis Church 2250 Avy Avenue, Menlo Park, Ca. A reception in celebration of Kon's life will follow. 1202 Sharon Park Dr. #67 Menlo Park, Ca.