Mary Balko

Mary Lee Balko, 94, passed away on April 10, 2020 in Des Moines, Iowa. She was born in Burlington, Iowa in 1925, the youngest of four children, Robert, Frank and Virginia, of Roy Wilfred Barsalou and Anna Evangeline Munich Barsalou. The family moved to Dubuque, Iowa in 1936 and to Des Moines in 1938.

Mary Lee worked at local businesses after high school before going to Tucson, Arizona in 1946 to work at the Army Air Force base. There she met her husband, James William Balko, before he was sent to China during the war and Mary Lee returned to Des Moines.

Mary Lee and James Balko married in 1946. Jim was a machinist at Globe Machinery and Supply. After the birth of their first child Susan, they purchased a house on Oxford Street. When daughters Diane and Mary Lee “Meryl” were born, the family moved in 1956 to a house on 44th Street. In the early 1970’s, they built a cottage at Beech Lake.

Mary Lee and her husband Jim opened a family business, Material Handling Equipment and later Balko Inc., where Mary Lee was in charge of financial affairs. Located on Grand Avenue, across from the Des Moines Art Center, the business closed in 1991. In 2009, the same year her husband died, Mary Lee moved to the Edgewater Retirement Community in West Des Moines.

Mary Lee was a woman of determination. She earned a Bachelor of Art Degree at age 46 from Drake University, with a major in Business Administration. She enthusiastically joined the first group of Iowans that rode bicycles across the entire state in the now famous Ragbrai bike ride. She continued to be physically active, swimming, walking and working out at the gym. She enjoyed antiques and was involved in local antique clubs. She also designed and produced stained glass windows. Always upbeat, Mary Lee lived cheerily and independently.

She is survived by her brother, Frank Barsalou; her daughters, Susan Balko (husband Larry Eichner), Diane Brumder (husband Philip Brumder) and Mary Lee “Meryl” Balko; her grandchildren, Michael Eichner, Quinn Eichner, Alexandra Tong, James Brumder, and Margaret Brumder. Mary Lee was preceded in death by her husband, James Balko. May she rest in peace.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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