Dr. Robert Ara Mavian

Mavian, Dr. Robert Ara

Dr. Robert Ara Mavian passed away on April 20, 2013 after living a full and rewarding life. He was born in 1936 in New York City to immigrant Armenian parents, and raised in Bergenfield, NJ and Queens, NY. He developed a lifelong love for bluegrass music and horses at an early age, owning both a guitar and a horse by the age of 12. Blessed with the early foresight of his passions, he went on to graduate from the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1962. That year was also the beginning of a 50 year love affair with his wife, Barbara Mavian. After working in Kentucky, Long Island, and Briarcliff Manor, he established the Millwood Animal Hospital in 1971, which he operated until 2011. Being a veterinarian was a labor of love that he never considered work and afforded him the opportunity to share an endless supply of knowledge and compassion with his clients.

Bluegrass music was an integral part of his life and he enjoyed countless hours playing the banjo, mandolin, and guitar from the Grand Ole' Opry stage to all night bluegrass festival picking parties across the northeast. He was also an accomplished painter, an antique car enthusiast, and opera fan, an inventive and capable DIYer, a comic grandfather, and a sage and generous advisor with a cool head, a keen intellect, a soft voice and a gentle heart.

He leaves behind a loving and proud family that includes his wife, Barbara; daughter, Elizabeth; son, Andrew; grandsons, Erik and Alex; and sister, Diane. A memorial service is to be planned for a date to be determined later. His family asks that in lieu of flowers or donations to a charity, that instead those who wish to honor his memory sign up to become organ donors.