Abe LeVon “Lee” Balzer, 87, died May 11, 2025, in Tulsa, Okla. He was born May 31, 1937, in Liberal, Kan., to Abe and Helen (Hamm) Balzer of Hooker, Okla. He attended Meade Bible Academy in Kansas, where he met his future wife, Alice Zielke. They were married June 14, 1957. He attended Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Neb., for two years and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma in 1959 and 1960.
He taught high school science in Mission, Kan., from 1960 to 1964. Then the family moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he worked for the National Science Foundation and completed his doctorate at Ohio State University in 1968. Then the family moved to Bellingham, Wash., where he taught biology at Western Washington University.
At each of the places they lived, Lee served in many capacities in church and community, including choir, church council, long-range planning and advisory boards.
After seven years in Bellingham, they relocated to Seattle to teach at Seattle Pacific University. During 13 years there, he became assistant dean of education and then dean of arts and sciences. In 1988 the call came to serve as president of Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan., where he served until 1994. Then he received a call to the presidency of John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Ark.
In his years of service to Christian higher education, Lee’s leadership was characterized by his conviction that scripture and science are not in conflict but support each other in the pursuit of truth and point to God as Creator. His other great passion was the spiritual formation of the whole person. He believed professors must integrate their faith with their teaching in ways that foster students’ faith development.
In 2004, after 10 years at John Brown, Lee and Alice retired to Bella Vista, Ark. In 2020 they returned to Siloam Springs to be closer to family. In December 2024 they moved to an assisted living facility in Tulsa.
Survivors include his wife; son Cary (Tracy) Balzer; daughter Tanya (Todd) Reichert; four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; brother Bob (Elda) Balzer; and sister-in-law Carol (Charles) Regier.
