Mount Diablo Peace and Justice Center

Andy Baltzo Memorial Stories Page

A TRIBUTE TO ANDY J. BALTZO ---

EXTENSION OF REMARKS BY

HON. ELLEN O. TAUSCHER & HON. GEORGE MILLER OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2009

Mrs. TAUSCHER. Madam Speaker, I rise with my colleague, Hon. George Miller, in the House of Representatives-- to recognize the work of Andrew J. Baltzo, founder of the Mt. Diablo Peace & Justice Center in Walnut Creek , California , who passed on Memorial Day 2009 after a long illness.

Andy Baltzo was born in Berkeley, California, on February 3, 1920. He was raised in Oakland, and studied at the University of California in Berkeley where he attained a teacher's credential. For the 10 years following his graduation, Andy taught chemistry to local intermediate school students. He also served four years in the US Army as a medical lab technician. It was the bombing of Hiroshima that gave Andy the incentive to devote his life to speaking out against the further development of nuclear weapons world-wide.

In 1969, Andy led the way in forming the Mt. Diablo Peace Center and served as the Center’s full-time director until 2000. Striving to demonstrate that a peaceful world based on justice for all people is possible, the Mt Diablo Peace and Justice Center has consistently worked to provide venues for people to further their experience of the peace process through classes, public forums and educational programs.

A man of deep convictions, Andy devoted his life to furthering non-violent resistance and expanding social justice. Because of his work, he received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Honorable Mention Award for "Keeping the Dream Alive" from the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on January 16, 1996. He also received the 6th Annual Peacemaker Award from the Center for Human Development on January 27, 2000.

Today our thoughts and prayers are also with Andy’s wife Doris, his daughter Alice, and son Daniel, and all of his family and friends. We join them in celebrating a life well lived. It is an honor and a privilege to commemorate the life of Andrew J. Baltzo and recognize the indelible mark he leaves behind on the residents of our Congressional Districts.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Remarks by Bhavia Carol Wagner at Memorial Service on June 5

I am so glad I can be with all of you today to celebrate the life of Andy Baltzo. How amazing that a man who spent his life working to end war and save lives would die on Memorial Day.

I worked with Andy at the Peace Center when I was the Director from 1995 to 2000 - when our office was in an old dilapidated house across the church parking lot. If you set your pencil down it would roll off your desk because the floor sloped so much. Andy didn't care how bad the building was, because his vision for a peaceful world was so strong that was all that mattered to him.

Andy always greeted me with a smile. He was a very positive person. He was glad I rode my bike to work and would tell me about how he used to his bicycle every where, until his hands couldn't take the vibration. One day he brought in his old bike frame to show me, which by the way, is back in style now.

I remember my first day at work, when it was time for lunch, and Andy pulled out a recycled jar and offered me a taste of his "green slime," made from greens from his vegetable garden, a banana, and nuts. He called himself a Health Nut.

Andy came to the office everyday, even though his memory was failing. He still wanted to help in any way he could. He wrote very personalized thank you notes to our donors and he helped with bulk mailings.

Sometimes one of his friends would stop by, like Arne Westerback, who helped start the Peace Center. Andy would always say - "here are the brains of this organization." Andy was humble and gave everyone else credit.

Sometimes Andy would pop his head into my office and ask, "Do we have anything Peter could do?" Peter was the disabled person who lived next door. Andy saw the best in everyone and included anyone who wanted to help at the Peace Center. He always tried to help Peter.

We never had a shortage of volunteers because people were drawn to Andy's vision and goodness. If anyone new came, Andy would launch into his passionate speech about how he wanted humanity to survive and that we needed to eliminate the serious threat of nuclear war.

How could you not support a man who was so sincere and dedicated? Not many people leave behind such a beautiful legacy.

Andy's spirit lives on, through the work of Mary Alice and everyone at Mt. Diablo Peace Center. I hope each of you will continue to support the Peace Center and carry forward Andy's vision of a world without war, a world filled with compassion and caring for the planet and each other.

Now I live in Eugene, Oregon and am the director of Friendship with Cambodia, a non-profit organization that provides humanitarian aid to Cambodia. I'd like to end by inviting you to join me in giving Cambodia's highest gesture of thanks and respect to Andy.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

From Charles Goodmacher, Santa Fe, New Mexico

When I was seven or eight years old my parents brought my brothers and I to a showing of a film about the bombing of Hiroshima . While I didn't understand much of it, I was certainly horrified by what I saw and yet at the same time I was also caught up in the words and spirit of Andy Baltzo. I believe some of the adults wondered whether young children should be shown the film. But with enormous optimism Andy converted the great horror we all felt at what had been done into even greater optimism that together we can change this earthly world. Of course, my understanding is different now than it was then, but not so much, really. I do remember being sad for the people who suffered, but even more so, feeling happy to be among people who wanted to make the world a better place. More than that, these people, beginning with Andy Baltzo were happy, almost joyous to be engaged in the effort to make it so. Andy Baltzo made it so.

That summer I spent many hours at the new Peace Center on Sharpe Avenue . What could a young boy have done then? Andy had me pulling weeds out of the lawn, and scratching names and numbers of people who were no longer available as draft counselors. Most of all, I listened and watched and learned. I soaked in the joy he had for life, which found expression in his work to change the world. So too did I learn life lessons from Jean Bovard, Arne Westerback, the Piersons and many others of the Peace Center community.

Andy's work to change the world was both global and very local. He cared deeply about every single human being. He was so thankful to every single individual who helped out at the peace center. He would hand-write personal notes to every one who did so, and he told us to our faces too just how important it was that we contributed in whatever way we did. Thousands of people over the years received his hand-scribbled notes, with words underlined three times and in bold for emphasis. No one ever doubted Andy's enthusiasm and respect for every one of us.

Years later, I worked along side Andy at the Peace Center when it was in the old house at 65 Eckley Lane , first as Program Director, then as Co-Director with him. I was the impatient young organizer wanting to bring the Peace Center into the "modern age." We moved from mimeographing newsletters to a computer-based design. We moved from an old hand-cranked addressograph, to "modern" computer labels. There were many times I was frustrated by Andy's adherence to his time-consuming personal thank you notes. Eventually I learned better.

It was not just the "rightness" of our positions on issues like The Nuclear Freeze, the Nuremberg Actions (at the Concord Naval Weapons Station), the Peace in Central America Initiative, or in opposition to Gulf War I that made the Peace Center and our community so special. It was more than that. It was the powerful way in which Andy showed us all just how wonderful it is that each and everyone of us can and do make an enormous contribution to shaping our world.

Of course Andy was the best signature-gatherer for our Peace in Central America Inititiative for the Contra Costa County ballot. Of the 34,700 signatures gathered, several thousand were collected by him personally. Few could resist his honest open smile and his question: "Can you help us out here? We're trying to stop the shipping of arms through our county."

To this day, in workshops and in other situations, I often share with folks three quotes I first heard from Andy on just this point:

"Every time a child throws something out of his crib, it disturbs the entire course of the universe." Sir James Jeans (I don't recall the exact name).

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, do it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." Goethe

"Whatever you do may be insignificant, but it's very important that you do it." Gandhi

Like so many others, Andy's influence on my world view was enormous. Andy helped guide me toward a life of joyously participating in the creation - helping to heal the wounds of our world so that all of us human beings can reach our full potential. So many of the choices I've made: to work with community-based groups; on political campaigns and as a legislative analyst; and now my last ten years as a union organizer with the National Education Association all stem from Andy's influence on me personally.

Andy, whether through his hand-written notes or in more "significant" ways, your touch remains with so many of us today. Thank you Andy for the life you shared with me and with so many others! The world is a much better place for your having been here!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

From Roland Janssen, San Ramon, CA

Andy used to say I should join the Unitarian-Universalist Church because “you can believe whatever the hell you want.” (No doubt most folks do.) Of course, the church is a community which helped create and support the Peace Center. Although I’m not a member of any church that would have me, I was a volunteer with the Peace Center. We had some good times within some bad times.

Life is a mixed bag of tricks and treats. If Andy wanted to live 100 years, then 89 is not too shabby. Deb kept him looking dapper as he gracefully accepted his limitations. We might say quality trumps quantity of life. In a quantum way, Andy did quite well. A self-described “health nut” he didn’t approve of happy hour, but enjoyed drinking his green slime cocktail. Andy was healthy, alright, and some might say nutty for trying to save the world. Although he was an atheist and no one’s perfect, perhaps he could be considered for secular sainthood. He did the best he could, all the time; if he could have done better, he would.

Toward the end, an absent-minded wise man sits with a wildflower in a dirt side-yard…his head in the shade, his body in the sun, an inadvertent master has transcended. Another way to remember Andy is to look at a $20 bill. Andrew Jackson resembles Andy Baltzo. Surely Andy wouldn’t mind a posthumous donation to the Peace Center.

Peace be upon him and the rest of humanity. Best wishes for the upcoming summer solstice.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

By Caroline Wood, Moraga, CA

When Andy showed up at our doorstep in the late 1960's I was so excited that someone actually wanted to start a peace movement in our extended village. In 1969 when he got the house on Sharpe Avenue, the Mt. Diablo Peace Center had a physical presence in the area. We gave him our old refrigerator that lasted for several more years and our nine year old son painted the fireplace . Our work with Andy involved financial support, recruiting people or at least trying to wake them up to the dangers of nuclear proliferation and the insanity of the war in Viet Nam. We did our best to encourage young men of draft age who were reluctant to go to war to get counseling and learn what options they had. It was always entertaining being around Andy. He liked to laugh!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

By Virginia Wheaton, Peace Gazette editor

Thank you, Andy, for making the world so much the better. My story is just one of many, but without the Peace Center I would still be stewing over our colonial exploits, Lamorinda would have voted for John McCain, (he might have even won the election!), the Crosses might have faltered, and we would still be fighting to get peace recognized as a viable way of life. I will always treasure the afternoon I spent last summer with you and DEB learning about your contributions to MtDPJC and the greater good.

Thanks also to you, DEB and to all of Andy's family, for sharing this remarkable man and for allowing him the time he took from his home life to help turn the tide of war. Andy, you will not soon be forgotten; your legacy will live on. Andy, these haiku are my small tribute to you.

ANDY

His dreams of world pax
Made solid: a Peace Center!
We follow in love

REGROWTH

I planted it for
Andy, a begonia stem
DEB gave me last Spring

Namaste, Ginny Wheaton

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

From Nancy Hunt Mathews , Sebastopol CA

Remembering Andy Baltzo

I was worried about where the U.S. was going and why exactly we were involved in the Vietnam War. Alex, my son, had no intention of going, but he registered for the draft. Determined to keep him out of the draft, the peace movement became a part of my life.

I don’t remember who introduced me to Andy Baltzo in the 60’s. Andy was involved in counseling Vietnam draft resisters and I urged Alex to go, which he refused to do. “Don’t worry mom, I’ll never go to Vietnam.”

I did worry. Andy came to my house for a visit. He proposed a permanent Peace and Justice Center in Walnut Creek and he needed financial support. I was happy to offer my emotional and financial pledge.

Alex was drafted and desperately looked for a way out, including going to Canada. I had put a local Draft Lawyer’s phone number in my wallet (advice from the Peace Center) and tried unsuccessfully to give it to Alex.

One day the FBI came to my door, looking for Alex. Now Alex made an appointment with the lawyer. He took another physical exam and they found his hearing not acceptable for active duty and his draft card was stamped 4F.

We owe it all to Andy and his sincere and heartfelt effort to stick with his belief that peace has to be the answer. Many young men were spared the destructive experience of going to a war for something that they could not support.

From Robert L. Heaton, Lafayette, CA

I will play taps for Andy at the Crosses of Lafayette this Sunday, August 1.

I still remember when I met Andy when he was reading the Vietnam dead with his bullhorn in Walnut Creek in 1968. He had soon convinced me that I should come out of the shadows and counsel young men like my three sons not to go to war. Many a night I spent in that house on Sharpe Street talking to youngsters with my fellow draft counsellors trying to find a way out.

Then later Marty Dimbat, Arne Westerbach. Gary Dobson and I sat with Andy in that "little house on the hill" trying to see how we could defeat the military complex taking over our country. We did not succeed but the Peace Center is now stronger than ever and still trying.