[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 68 (Thursday, May 26, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: May 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO HIRAIR HOVNANIAN
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HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR.
of new jersey
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, May 25, 1994
Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute a man who
epitomizes the American Dream. Mr. Hirair Hovnanian, chairman of the
board of trustees of the Armenian Assembly of America, will receive the
assembly's Distinguished Service Award at a gala in New York City on
June 4, 1994. This is a richly deserved award for a man who has
contributed immensely to two great nations, the United States and
Armenia.
Hirair Hovnanian came to this country on a freighter in 1951 with
only $25 in his pocket and the address of some relatives in
Philadelphia who took him into their home. He enrolled at Villanova
University in 1952, graduating 4 years later with a bachelor of science
in civil engineering. That same year, he married Anna Hamparian, to
whom he has been married for the past 38 years. He began his career as
a civil engineer with a consulting firm making $90 a week, saving every
penny he could. As chance or fate would have it, a distant cousin of
his was building a home in Toms River, NJ, and Hirair went to see how
it was done. It occurred to him that he could build a hundred homes
just like it in a year's time. In 1958, he moved to Toms River, with
$3,500 in his savings account, and he and his brothers bought 23 acres
of land. With a secondhand Jeep and chainsaw, and working round the
clock, the Hovnanian brothers created their first housing development.
After several years of successful work together, the brothers formed
separate building companies in 1963.
In 1963, Hirair formed Hovsons, Inc., and within a year he had built
72 homes. Since the majority of his home buyers were retirees, Hirair
decided to build adult communities, but in a new way--creating single-
family homes with their own individual lots. What better example could
there be of realizing the American dream?
In 1965, Mr. Hovnanian started the first Holiday City adult
community. This concept has expanded into a total community, including
recreation, medical, and shopping facilities, and more than 15,000
housing units. His development business is complemented by his building
materials and prefab manufacturing subsidiaries. He has also
diversified into the development and construction of health care
facilities, retail centers, office complexes, and mining operations in
New Jersey, Florida, and California.
Mr. Hovnanian has always maintained that his hard-work ethic comes
from his parents. His father fled the genocide perpetrated against the
Armenian people by the Turkish Ottoman Empire, which began in 1915. The
senior Hovnanian fled to Iraq where he succeeded in business until
unrest in that nation forced the family to seek refuge in the United
States. Hirair has said of his father, ``He was a self-taught man. I
think his drive to succeed became a family trait. My brothers and I
were all competitive, but not to out-do one another, just to do our
best and be successful at what we set out to accomplish. It's true with
my children as well.'' Hirair and Anna have five children: four
daughters, Siran, Edele, Leela and Tanya, and a son, Armen, all of whom
are well on the way to successful careers. Edele and Armen work
alongside their father at H. Hovnanian Industries.
While Mr. Hovnanian could very easily have devoted all of his
energies to his business and enjoyed the fruits of his success, he has
chosen instead to get involved with a diverse array of civic,
charitable, educational, and philanthropic activities. He was a
founding benefactor of the Armenian Assembly, organized in 1972 here in
Washington. He has been the assembly's driving force, serving as
president and chairman of its board of trustees.
In 1988, tragedy struck the Hovnanians' ancestral homeland of Armenia
when a devastating earthquake tore apart the country, devastating
cities and towns, and leaving thousands homeless. Hirair was one of the
first Armenian-Americans on the scene, opening an Armenian Assembly
office in the capital of Yerevan with a satellite phone to communicate
with the rest of the world. He helped to raise $4 million which, with a
$2 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development,
established housing component manufacturing facilities under his direct
management. Currently, he serves on the Hayastan All Armenia Fund,
which is involved in humanitarian projects in Armenia.
In the past year, working with the Government of the Republic of
Armenia, Hirair established the Armenia Oil and Gas Development Fund
[ArmOil] for oil and gas exploration, contributing his own funds and
working to secure a sea outlet for the landlocked country.
Back home in New Jersey, Hirair Hovnanian has been active in a
variety of community activities and organizations, has donated some $20
million to charitable, religious, cultural, and educational entities,
and has received numerous high awards and decorations for his years of
work and dedication to the community. In recognition of his devotion to
the Armenian Church, he has been bestowed many decorations. He has
dedicated a 465-acre bird sanctuary to the Audubon Society, a 175-acre
sanctuary park to the New Jersey Natural Lands Trust, and provided for
the preservation of a site containing late nineteenth century gunpowder
works and Indian burial grounds.
Not bad for a young man who came to this country 43 years ago with
$25 in his pocket.
Mr. Speaker, Hirair Hovnanian is a man who represents the fulfillment
of the great American immigrant story that makes our country so unique.
He has worked to make a difference, both in his homeland and his
adopted home. It is an honor to share some of his accomplishments with
the Members of this body.
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