Michael Madajian

SANTA BARBARA - We grieve, though not as those who have no hope, knowing that, for him, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Michael Madajian was born January 17, 1931 in Racine Wisconsin and passed away on December 27, 2014 at the age of 83. He grew up in a tightly knit immigrant community who largely came from Tomarza Armenia. His father was a shoe maker and his mother was homemaker. He was the second youngest of 7 children. Michael’s many accomplishments in his younger days included being High School Class President, Eagle Scout, admission into the US Coast Guard Academy, Graduation from University of WI, and the Bank America Executive Training program. His early Boy Scout years were very important to him and he often spoke of his former Scoutmaster, Henry Keppler, being like a father to him. Two of his proudest moments were to participate in the Eagle Scout ceremonies for two of his grandsons in Santa Barbara. He was active in Saint Vartan Armenian church in Oakland for over 50 years and served a variety of roles such as Delegate, Treasurer and Parish Council. His favorite task was Chairman of the Parish Assembly. He also taught Sunday School for many years in the tradition of his father, Toros, who in 1935 founded the first Armenian Sunday School in the United States. He had many jobs over his lifetime including shining shoes in his father’s shoe repair shop and running a used car lot. He was always very disciplined, lived the Scout Oath, and tried to do at least one good deed every day. This included giving people rides, picking up trash, and cleaning graffiti. He was able to maintain his high school weight his entire life. He worked out in the gym virtually every morning and rarely missed a Sunday of church. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin he married his McKinley Junior High sweetheart, Virginia Armaganian, and moved to California for her health. He attended night law-school while working full time as a bank vice president. He was the only student in his San Francisco night law school to pass the California Bar Exam. He practiced law from 1965 to 2004. The first 5 years of which, he was the in-house legal attorney for the Central Valley Bank. For the remainder of his career, he was independent, but associated with the Toomajian brothers. His daughter, Lori, was his secretary for many years. After developing advanced Parkenson’s Disease, he and Virginia moved down to Santa Barbara in 2013 to be near his son and closer to his daughter. He very much enjoyed all 5 of his grandchildren. As his memory declined he could no longer remember much of his 60 years in Oakland, but had very vivid memories of his life back in Racine. He is survived by his older brother Jack, his sisters Rose Kaprelian , Margaret , Catherine Sahakian all of Racine and his youngest sister Liz Derderian of Methuen MA, his wife of 61 years, Virginia Madajian, daughter Lori Hill, son-in-law Andy Hill, grandson Daniel Hill and granddaughter Rose Hill his son David Madajian, daughter-in-law Viviane Madajian, grandson’s Jonathan, Alex and Gregory. He is preceded in death by his father Toros Madaghjian (1989 at 99), mother Vartuhy Madaghjian (Vartanian) (1977 at 72) and sister Mary Kamakian (1989 at 66). A memorial service will be held at St. Mesrob Armenian Church, 4605 Erie Street, Racine, on February 8, 2015 at the close of church service. A Fellowship will follow.