K. K. Balachandran

Balachandran, K. K. Balachandran (Bala) was born in Sri Lanka on October 5, 1937. Bala was a gifted and diligent student excelling and earning a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Colorado School of Mines. Graduating with a PhD in geophysics, he embarked on a career in oil exploration which allowed him to travel and live throughout the United States and abroad. He eventually settled in Kalamazoo where he became an instructor in Math and Physics at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, from which he retired at age 80. Education opened the door for him to come to the U.S., become a citizen and sponsor many family members to emigrate. That so many members of his extended family were able to earn advanced degrees was a source of immense pride. Bala was a devoted husband, father, uncle, grandfather. Bala was a man of science (and game shows!). Antoine Lavoisier proposed that matter can neither be created nor destroyed, it can only change forms. Einstein adopted the premise for energy. Let's apply the same principle to all the goodness, calm, diligence and intellect that was Bala. His soul has merely changed forms and is dispersed in the universe so that his grace will be with us all, forever. He died on November 17, 2022 from metastatic urothelial cell cancer. He leaves behind too many loved ones to mention. He was preceded in death by his wife, Monica by 7 weeks. Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider and memorial donation to Kalamazoo Valley Community College Foundation or Grace Girls Home, gracegirlshome.org. Please feel free to share your thoughts and memories with Bala's family at his tribute page at www.reynold-jonkhoff.com. The family is being cared for by the Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home and Cremation Services.