They were raising a family of three children in the tough environment of St. Petersburg, Russia, but they somehow knew that there were better times and a brighter future for their kids somewhere on the other side of the world.
So without any money, any jobs, any prospects or any knowledge of the English language, they uprooted the family and moved to the suburbs of Cleveland.
Their middle child, who was 8 years old at the time, has devoted his time since then to rewarding his parents’ faith.
Anton Narinsky now is a backup defensive lineman on the Iowa football team and well on his way to a brilliant future in the business world. But he still shakes his head in wonder when he thinks about what Mom and Dad did.
“It’s unbelievable …” he said. “It’s insane what they did for us.”
Narinsky, who already has earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Iowa even though he has two years of eligibility remaining, said he thinks the culture shock he felt was a slight tremor compared to what Andrey and Svetlana experienced.
“I was just a kid when I came over, so it wasn’t that much of a culture shock,” he said. “You could find entertainment in anything at that age.
“But for my parents, it was real tough. Nobody in my family knew the language or even one person in the country. We just came over without having anything or knowing anybody. Really, it’s unbelievable. I don’t know how they did it.”
Anton said he picked up English pretty well within his first year in the United States and speaks without a hint of an accent.
“It’s a little different when you’re forced into it,” he said. “When you’re taking a class in high school, you have to pick it up or you’re just not going to be able to understand anyone.”
The Narinskys came to the United States through an immigration program in which they were set up to live with another family in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, for about a month.
“My dad was stacking boxes in a warehouse at night for the first three years,” Narinsky said. “My mom found work sewing.”
And the three kids — including older brother Alex and younger sister Anastasia — found their niches in school.
By the time he was a junior at Kenston High School, Anton not only was starring on the football field and contending for state wrestling titles but taking every calculus class in the curriculum and also taking several advanced placement classes.
As a senior, he didn’t even go to Kenston except for football and wrestling practice. He attended a local community college and earned both high school and college credits simultaneously.
He arrived at Iowa in the fall of 2004 with 35 college credits. With a bachelor’s degree in hand, he’s hoping to have at least one masters before he’s done playing football for the Hawkeyes.
And for the first time this fall, Narinsky figures to play quite a bit.
After moving from linebacker to the defensive line to the offensive line, he has found his spot on the defensive side of the ball. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said he figures to get 10 to 15 plays a game as a backup to his buddies Mitch King and Matt Kroul.
Defensive line coach Rick Kazcenski, who also coached Narinsky when he was on offense, said Anton is very physically tough and has a tremendous work ethic.
And it goes without saying that he’s smart.
“He’s a guy who’s definitely on a different level,” Kazcenski said. “I always tell him that when I get fired here I’m going to come work for him in whatever company he’s running. He told me I can be the guy who just fires people.
“He’s just a great kid from a great family.”
That goes without saying as well.
Don Doxsie can be contacted at (563) 383-2280 or ddoxsie@qctimes.com.
Craig Blessing wrote on Aug 16, 2007 2:59 PM: