Jirair Hovnanian
Encyclopedia
Jirair S. Hovnanian was an Armenian Iraqi
-American
home builder
based in New Jersey
. Hovnanian's business developed and built over 6,000 houses throughout South Jersey
.
, Iraq
in 1927. His parents, who were ethnic Armenians
had fled to Iraq
in 1915 to escape the Armenian Genocide
. Jirair's father was from Sebastia
and his mother was from Malatia. Hovnanian's father, Stepan K. Hovnanian, owned and operated a construction
company based in Baghdad
. Hovnanian was one of six children in his family. He attended a Jesuit high school in Kirkuk.
The Hovnanian family, including Jirair, immigrated to the United States
in 1948. The family settled in North Philadelphia. Hovnanian spoke very little English when he arrived in the U.S.
Hovnanian married his wife, Elizabeth Vosbikian. Her family had created the Quickie Manufacturing Corporation, which manufactured popular products such as the Quickie broom and mops.
Hovnanian graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
in 1952 with a bachelor's degree
in business.
.
Over the next 40 years under Hovnanian's leadership, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons built over 6,000 throughout South Jersey, mainly in Burlington County, Camden County, and Gloucester County. (One of Jirair's brothers, Kevork Hovnanian
, would later found Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc
., a publicly traded firm based in Red Bank, New Jersey
. Jirair's and Kevork's prospective companies are not related professionally.)
Jirair Hovnanian championed New Jersey
state law
s 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.
Hovnanian and his firm, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, had participated in the ABC
reality show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
, and completed the project just 10 days before his death in August 2007. Hovnanian's company built a home for free in Pennsauken, New Jersey, for the Marrero family, which was made up of Victor Marrero and his five sons. The home, which was built in just 96 hours, was completed for the show and the Marrero family, on August 4, 2007. Hovnanian's family later told 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."
Hovnanian served as president of the New Jersey Builders Association and the lifelong director of the National Association of Home Builders
.
Hovnanian was an avid sport fisherman. In August 1992 he and four others survived the sinking of his 127 feet (38.7 m) mega yacht, Lady Anna 90 miles (144.8 km) east-southeast off of Cape May, New Jersey.
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. Hovnanian was, himself, a champion grower of roses
.
Hovnanian founded the Center for the Advancement of Natural Discoveries using Light Emission (CANDLE) in Armenia
, his family's homeland before his parents fled to Iraq. The center, which is located 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 also supported the Burlington County Boy Scout Council. To help future students, Hovnanian founded the Jirair S. Hovnanian Scholarship Fund.
Hovnanian received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor
in 2006 from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Inc.
. He was pronounced dead at Virtua West Jersey Hospital Marlton in Marlton, New Jersey
, just ten days after completing the episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
. His funeral was held at St. Gregory's Armenian Apostolic Church
in Philadelphia. Hovnanian was buried in Cinnaminson, New Jersey.
Jirair Hovnanian was survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and his sons, Stephen and Peter, as well as two great-grandchildren, three brothers, and two sisters.
Armenians in Iraq
There is a small ethnic minority of Armenians in Iraq, mostly living in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. It is estimated that there are about 15,000 Armenians living in the entire country with communities in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Kirkuk and Dohuk.Some scholarly sources also refer to them as Iraqi...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
home builder
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
based in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Hovnanian's business developed and built over 6,000 houses throughout South Jersey
South Jersey
South Jersey comprises the southern portions of the U.S. state of New Jersey between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation is a colloquial one, reflecting not only geographical but perceived cultural differences from the northern part of the state, with no official...
.
Early life
Jirair S. Hovnanian was born in KirkukKirkuk
Kirkuk is a city in Iraq and the capital of Kirkuk Governorate.It is located in the Iraqi governorate of Kirkuk, north of the capital, Baghdad...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1927. His parents, who were ethnic Armenians
Armenians in Iraq
There is a small ethnic minority of Armenians in Iraq, mostly living in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. It is estimated that there are about 15,000 Armenians living in the entire country with communities in Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Kirkuk and Dohuk.Some scholarly sources also refer to them as Iraqi...
had fled to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 1915 to escape the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. Jirair's father was from Sebastia
Sebastia
Sebastia can refer to:* Sebastia: Sivas, Turkey is the provincial capital of Sivas Province in Turkey. Sivas first appears in history as Seabaste...
and his mother was from Malatia. Hovnanian's father, Stepan K. Hovnanian, owned and operated a construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
company based in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. Hovnanian was one of six children in his family. He attended a Jesuit high school in Kirkuk.
The Hovnanian family, including Jirair, immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1948. The family settled in North Philadelphia. Hovnanian spoke very little English when he arrived in the U.S.
Hovnanian married his wife, Elizabeth Vosbikian. Her family had created the Quickie Manufacturing Corporation, which manufactured popular products such as the Quickie broom and mops.
Hovnanian graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
in 1952 with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in business.
Career
Jirair Hovnanian and his three brothers founded a family construction company, Hovnanian Brothers Corp., in 1959. In 1964 Hovnanian split off from his brothers' company and founded his own construction business, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, of Mount Laurel Township, New JerseyMount Laurel Township, New Jersey
Mount Laurel Township is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, and is an edge city "suburb" of Philadelphia. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 40,221...
.
Over the next 40 years under Hovnanian's leadership, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons built over 6,000 throughout South Jersey, mainly in Burlington County, Camden County, and Gloucester County. (One of Jirair's brothers, Kevork Hovnanian
Kevork Hovnanian
Kevork S. Hovnanian was an Iraqi-born Armenian-American businessman and home builder, who founded Hovnanian Enterprises in 1959. He remained the president and chief executive officer of Hovnanian Enterprises until his retirement in 1997...
, would later found Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc
Hovnanian Enterprises
Hovnanian Enterprises, Inc. is a United States real estate company involved in every aspect of marketing homes, including design, construction and sales. The company works with individual detached housing as well as higher-occupancy dwellings, including townhouses, condominiums and retirement homes...
., a publicly traded firm based in Red Bank, New Jersey
Red Bank, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 11,844 people, 5,201 households, and 2,501 families residing in the borough. The population density was 6,639.1 people per square mile . There were 5,450 housing units at an average density of 3,055.0 per square mile...
. Jirair's and Kevork's prospective companies are not related professionally.)
Jirair Hovnanian championed New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
state law
State law
In the United States, state law is the law of each separate U.S. state, as passed by the state legislature and adjudicated by state courts. It exists in parallel, and sometimes in conflict with, United States federal law. These disputes are often resolved by the federal courts.-See also:*List of U.S...
s 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.
Hovnanian and his firm, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, had participated in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
reality show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a reality television series providing home renovations for less fortunate families and community schools etc...
, and completed the project just 10 days before his death in August 2007. Hovnanian's company built a home for free in Pennsauken, New Jersey, for the Marrero family, which was made up of Victor Marrero and his five sons. The home, which was built in just 96 hours, was completed for the show and the Marrero family, on August 4, 2007. Hovnanian's family later told 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."
Hovnanian served as president of the New Jersey Builders Association and the lifelong director of the National Association of Home Builders
National Association of Home Builders
The National Association of Home Builders is one of the largest trade associations in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, DC, NAHB's mission is "to enhance the climate for housing and the building industry...
.
Interests
Jirair Hovnanian participated in a number of personal interest and philanthropic causes throughout his life.Hovnanian was an avid sport fisherman. In August 1992 he and four others survived the sinking of his 127 feet (38.7 m) mega yacht, Lady Anna 90 miles (144.8 km) east-southeast off of Cape May, New Jersey.
Hovnanian and two scientists teamed up to found Nature's Wonder, a Philadelphia metropolitan area company that extracts a product from peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
that encourages plant growth. Hovnanian was, himself, a champion grower of roses
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
.
Hovnanian founded the Center for the Advancement of Natural Discoveries using Light Emission (CANDLE) in Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
, his family's homeland before his parents fled to Iraq. The center, which is located in Yerevan, Armenia, "generates beams of ultraviolet light for protein crystallography
Crystallography
Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...
." It helps to employ Armenian scientists who would otherwise have to move abroad to find work.
He also supported the Burlington County Boy Scout Council. To help future students, Hovnanian founded the Jirair S. Hovnanian Scholarship Fund.
Hovnanian received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor
Ellis Island Medal of Honor
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and intended to pay homage to the immigrant experience. The medals honor the contribution made to America by immigrants and the legacy they left behind in the successes of their children and grand-children...
in 2006 from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Inc.
Death
Jirair Hovnanian died of heart failure on August 14, 2007, at his home in Mount Laurel Township, New JerseyMount Laurel Township, New Jersey
Mount Laurel Township is a Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, and is an edge city "suburb" of Philadelphia. As of the 2000 United States Census, the township population was 40,221...
. He was pronounced dead at Virtua West Jersey Hospital Marlton in Marlton, New Jersey
Marlton, New Jersey
Marlton is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Evesham Township in Burlington County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population of Marlton was 10,260.-History:...
, just ten days after completing the episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a reality television series providing home renovations for less fortunate families and community schools etc...
. His funeral was held at St. Gregory's Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
in Philadelphia. Hovnanian was buried in Cinnaminson, New Jersey.
Jirair Hovnanian was survived by his wife, Elizabeth, and his sons, Stephen and Peter, as well as two great-grandchildren, three brothers, and two sisters.