Norman Balabanian was a man of action right up until the moment he died.

Balabanian served in the military in the 1940s, protested against the Vietnam War in the 1960s, ran for Congress on an antiwar platform and finally settled as a professor at Syracuse University. He summed up his life’s philosophy with his final words to his stepson: ‘What have you done for your fellow man lately?’

‘Norman believed having thoughts of something meant nothing if you didn’t match it with action.’ said his stepson, David Spear. ‘The last thing he said to me kind of typified his outlook of life, his action. Life was a verb with Norman. It was all about doing.’

A memorial service was held in memory of Balabanian on Friday at Hendricks Chapel, about 10 months after he died at the age of 87. Balabanian was the former chair of the L.C. Smith School of Engineering and Computer Science’s electrical and computer engineering department, in which he was also a professor. 

Balabanian suffered a massive coronary Dec. 19. He died in his sleep at his home in Gainesville, Fla., where he retired in 1991 and was active as an honorary chair on the University of Florida campus.

Nearly 60 people attended Friday’s service, which was organized by retired physics professor Arnold Honig. The service featured four primary parts that included Balabanian’s time as a professor, scholar, co-founder of the Central New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and his crusade against the Vietnam War that eventually led him to run for Congress on an antiwar platform.

Balabanian passionately opposed the war in Vietnam, believing it was unjust for the United States to be involved in the escalating conflict. Balabanian, Honig and others were frustrated their positions were not being heard, so Honig suggested Balabanian run for a seat in the 1966 34th congressional election. Being a man of action, Balabanian eventually agreed.

‘In the context of a campaign, you can bring out these issues, and we did, with rational arguments for not proceeding with that war, that unfortunate war,’ Honig said.

Honig said the campaigning process took up much time and consisted of interviews, meetings, raising money, handing out fliers and finding campaign headquarters. All of that was on top of other professional commitments.

‘It was sometimes very, very hectic, but we thought we really had to do it,’ Honig said.

Balabanian ran as part of the Citizens Peace Party, with the motto ‘Move for Peace.’ Balabanian’s goals were peace in Vietnam, an end to poverty and jobs for all.

‘There was a beginning to build resistance to the war. It seemed to make sense that, in a small way, someone ought to do something in Syracuse,’ said Edith Schmitz, whose husband was Balabanian’s campaign treasurer.

When Election Day came, Balabanian received just 3 percent of the 163,406 votes cast, or a little less than 5,000 votes. 

‘He knew he wasn’t going to win. It was really to educate people about what the policies of the government were at that time, and that the war was immoral and wrong,’ said Balabanian’s daughter, Karen.

Honig also said a goal of the campaign was to take votes away from Democrats, as a way to force them to shift their ideology and reassess their opinion of the war.

Balabanian’s opposition to war lived past his defeat in the congressional election. Balabanian had volunteered and served in the military from 1943 to 1946. When he moved to Florida in the 1990s, he was part of Veterans for Peace.

Balabanian is survived by his wife, four biological children and five stepchildren from his second marriage. 

Balabanian, a Unitarian, donated his body to the University of Florida medical department upon his death. It will be returned after two years. 

‘He was demanding and could sort of be absolute. … He was a good father. He could be difficult, but I think we benefited from having him as a father,’ daughter Karen said.

Balabanian’s passion for social justice arose from injustices he witnessed growing up, his children said. 

‘It was just where he came from that made him who he was,’ said Spear, Balabanian’s stepson. 

Balabanian, who was of Armenian descent and lived in Syria for some years as a child, saw cruelty and wrongdoings around him. His mother was one of the Armenian survivors of Musa Dagh, a resistance to Ottoman Empire attacks on six villages that drove the Armenian people up the Musa Mountain, holding off Turkish attacks for 53 days.

‘Many things you read in textbooks, he experienced firsthand,’ Spear said.

When Spear looks back at that last conversation with his stepfather, he can only smile at how appropriate those last words were.

‘I found it a fitting thing,’ Spear said. ‘He didn’t know it was the last thing he said to me, I don’t think. I certainly didn’t, but it was the last thing he said to me. I found it pretty beautiful.’ 

dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on October 10, 2010 at 12:00 pm