Jirair Hovnanian

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jirair S. Hovnanian (June 9, 1927 – August 14, 2007) was an American home builder based in New Jersey. Hovnanian's business developed and built over 6,000 houses throughout South Jersey.[1]

Early life

Hovnanian was born in

Stanford Business School
.

Marriage

Jirair Hovnanian married Elizabeth Vosbikian,[when?] whose family founded the Quickie Manufacturing Corporation, which manufactured popular products such as the Quickie broom and mops.[1]

Career

Jirair and his three brothers founded a family construction company, Hovnanian Brothers Corp, in 1959.

firm based in Red Bank, New Jersey.[3] The brothers' companies are not related professionally. Jirair championed New Jersey state laws in the 1970s to protect home buyers from unscrupulous builders and realtors. The laws later enacted included the Municipal Land Use Law, the 10 year Home Owner's Warranty Program, and the Uniform Construction Code.[1]

Hovnanian and his firm, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, had participated in the

Philadelphia Inquirer that participating in the show was one of his dreams. Victor Marrero, the recipient of the episode's new home built by Hovnanian, told the newspaper following Hovnanian's death, "Mr. Hovnanian gave me and my sons a lifeline. I will love him all my life. He was quiet and always in the back. He was not a showoff. He told me 'I know you and your boys will be all right.' He threw so much love at me."[1]

Jirair Hovnanian served as president of the New Jersey Builders Association and the lifelong director of the National Association of Home Builders.[1]

Interests

Jirair Hovnanian participated in a number of personal interest and philanthropic causes throughout his life. He was an avid sport fisherman. In August 1992 he and four others survived the sinking of his 127-foot-long (39 m) mega yacht, Lady Anna 90 miles (140 km) east-southeast off Cape May, New Jersey.[4] Hovnanian and two scientists teamed up to found Nature's Wonder, a Philadelphia metropolitan area company that extracts a product from peat that encourages plant growth.[1] Hovnanian was, himself, a champion grower of roses.

Hovnanian founded the Center for the Advancement of Natural Discoveries using Light Emission (CANDLE) in

Yerevan, Armenia, "generates beams of ultraviolet light for protein crystallography." It helps to employ Armenian scientists who would otherwise have to move abroad to find work. He received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2006 from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, Inc.[1]

Death

Hovnanian suffered heart failure at his home in

Cinnaminson, New Jersey. He was survived by his immediate family, i.e. his widow, Elizabeth; their sons, Stephen and Peter and Jirair's three brothers and two sisters.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sims, Gayle Ronan. "An entrepreneur's final act of generosity", The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 16, 2007; accessed March 25, 2011. "A funeral service will be held Friday for Mr. Hovnanian, 80, who never stopped striving to make the world a better place for his family, the Armenian people and the underdog. The Iraqi-born Armenian American died after collapsing at his Mount Laurel residence that day."
  2. ^ "An entrepreneur's final act of generosity", Philly.com, 17 August 2007. Accessed 12 July 2016.
  3. ^
    Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2007-09-16.[dead link
    ]
  4. ^ http://www.yachtspotter.com/focard3.php?foo=FG010

External links