Jack Minassian

Jack Minassian, 90, resident of Hollis, died May 12, 2012 in Nashua, New Hampshire. He was born on February 9, 1922, in Sivas, once an Armenian city, now part of Turkey. His parents were Miridjan and Arma Minassian, both survivors of the Armenian genocide. They emigrated to the United States of America in March 1923. They lived in Manhattan and later in Queens, boroughs of New York City. Jack completed elementary school, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in June 1939. He then attended the Defense Training Institute, a technical school where he took engineering courses. After graduating he was employed by Pratt Read of Deep River, CT, where he did detail drawings for construction of gliders they were building for use in WW2. In February 1943 Jack was called to serve in the US Army. After training and schooling in the US he was assigned to the 217th Field Artillery Battalion and went to Europe several months after the invasion by the Allied Forces. He served honorably in France, Germany and Austria and was discharged in November of 1945. Jack attended the School of Architecture at Columbia University from 1946 to 1950, graduating with a Bachelor of Architecture Degree. He worked at various architectural firms, mostly in Manhattan. In 1952, he and Sema E. Asdourian were married. Sema worked for the NYC Board of Education as an elementary school teacher. They lived in Bayside, Queens for thirty years, raising two children, Leslie E. Minassian and Adam P. Minassian. In 1996 they moved to Hollis, NH. Jack’s hobbies included woodworking, fishing, and competition model aircraft building and flying. In 2007 he completed the construction of a harpsichord which Adam had begun work on more than a decade earlier. He was a member of the Guild of New Hampshire Woodworkers, the Brooklyn Skyscrapers Model Airplane Club, and New Hampshire Veterans for Peace. Jack and Sema were members of the St. Vartanantz Armenian Church of Chelmsford, MA. They were also members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Milford, NH. As a member of the Property Committee at UUCM Jack helped plan and build various improvements for the church. Jack was predeceased by his son, Adam Minassian; his son-in-law, Stuart Santelmann; and a sister, Gloria Trunvere. Jack is survived by his wife, Sema Minassian; his daughter, Leslie Minassian; two grandchildren, Corey and Emma Santelmann; sister, Roseann and brother-in-law Edward Alexander of Bethesda, MD; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, David and Janet Asdourian; many nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to New Hampshire Veterans for Peace, c/o Will Thomas, Coordinator, 27 Margate Drive, Auburn, NH 03032.