Harry S. Zaroukian Obituary (1927 - 2020)

HARRY S. ZAROUKIAN, 93, of Sterling Heights, MI passed away on Sunday, March 8th, 2020 at Green Acres Assisted Living Center in Wayland, MI, surrounded by loved ones. He was born February 4th, 1927 in Highland Park, MI to Mary (Hagopian) Zaroukian and Sarkis Zaroukian. Harry spent his early years in Detroit with his mother, father and older sister, Armena. He attended Highland Park High school. Harry was a World War II veteran. After returning from service in Japan, he married Annie Jeanne Lawrence on November 13th, 1948. They were married for 66 years. Harry and Jeanne raised their 4 children Susan, Marcia, Michael, and Steven in Royal Oak. Once their children had grown, they moved to Sterling Heights to be closer to their grandchildren. Harry worked at the Selfridge Air National Guard base as the Assistant Base Maintenance Manager for many years, where his team ''fixed everything from typewriters to road graders''. He was particularly proud of his involvement in the Nike Missile Maintenance Program. Never being the idle sort, after retirement he went to work at Refabco with his daughter and son-in-law. He finally retired for good in 2003. Harry had many hobbies including bowling, boating and tinkering with broken items in his shop. A lifelong lake enthusiast, Harry was water and jet skiing well into his 70s. Harry's greatest joy in life was being at Gun Lake with his family and friends. Harry was preceded in death by his mother, father, sister, and wife. He is survived by his children Susan (Mason) Richardson, Marcia (Rick) Heroux, Mike (Barbara) Zaroukian, and Steven (Vicki) Zaroukian. He is also survived by his grandchildren Tom Richardson, Jon Richardson, Jennifer (Charlie) Wick, Julia (Patrick) Caplis, Angela (Andrew) Murphy, Matthew (Wednesday) Heroux, Adam (Alex) Heroux, Ben (Joy) Zaroukian, Erin (Pete) Zaroukian, Sam Zaroukian, Lauren Zaroukian, Bryan (Kelsey) Zaroukian, and Kaylin Zaroukian. He is also survived by his 12 great-grandchildren: Liliana, Tabytha, Savannah, Mason, Lucas, Noah, Christian, Jacob, Amelia, Jameson, Juniper, and Anna. All of whom Harry adored. Final interment will be at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan. The date and time of the memorial service will be announced as soon as it becomes available. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Harry's memory to The Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) or St. Jude's Children's Hospital (www.stjude.org). Cremation arrangements were entrusted to Michigan Cremation & Funeral Care, Grand Rapids, MI, exclusive providers of Veterans Funeral Care.