Stanley S. Sarkisian

Stanley Sarkis Sarkisian passed away peacefully on Jan. 5, 2024 in Tarzana, Calif. with family

by his side.

He was born Jan. 4, 1931 in Lowell, Mass., growing up in a close-knit Armenian household. His

father, Levon, and mother, Pepay Ounjian, immigrated from Adana, Turkey. Levon ran a busy

barbershop in Lowell, where Stanley often worked, sweeping floors, describing his Dad as a

“whiz with scissors.”

Even though times were tough and challenging during the Depression and World War II, Stanley

along with his older sister, Alice, and his younger sister, Ogen, enjoyed a comfortable childhood,

often sledding during the winter months and bowling with the local church youth group. Baseball

was everything to him. By day, he played baseball with neighborhood friends and by night he

cheered on his beloved Boston Red Sox on the radio. He and Alice were accomplished piano

players and performed simultaneously for the student body at Lowell High School, playing

Chopin’s Polonaise and Malaguena by Ernesto Lecuona.

Stanley graduated high school salutatorian in 1948. He continued to Harvard University where

he graduated with a degree in biology in 1952. He was drafted into the Army, serving in the

Korean War as a corporal and medic, assessing the mental health of soldiers, and was honorably

discharged in 1954.

Academia called again and Stanley pursued a master’s degree in psychology, first at the

University of Michigan, then decamping to the warmer climes of the University of Texas at

Austin, where he completed his degree.

His parents relocated to Los Angeles to escape the cold in the mid-50s, living near Silver Lake.

Levon set up a new barbershop and Pepay found employment at Olga Lingerie as a seamstress.

Stanley began working as a health inspector for the city in what would eventually become the

LA County Department of Public Health, rising to chief with a staff overseeing health and

sanitation problems in restaurants, housing complexes, hotels and entertainment venues,

including at the LA County Fair. He served as president of the Los Angeles County Association

of Environmental Health Specialists and retired from the county after 34 years in 1993.

In 1967, Stanley married Lena Yenikomshian, who was a nursing supervisor at Cedars-Sinai

Hospital and the West LA VA Medical Center. They had one daughter, Nola, and eventually

moved to Redlands in 1979. He was a consummate family man, doting on his wife and teaching

Nola piano, countless sports, bridge and a love for black-and-white television shows and movies.

He also introduced the family to musicals enjoyed at the Redlands Bowl.

Always in pursuit of warmer temperatures, Stanley was drawn to Palm Springs, and eventually,

he and Lena bought a vacation home there, which jumpstarted his love of golf, a passion he

shared with Nola. Stan was a devoted member of the golf club through his retirement, joining the

men’s golf groups, tennis groups and bridge club.

He had a tireless work ethic, rarely missing work if at all, and continued at the health department

even when he moved out of Los Angeles, commuting at 5am to offices in Glendale and Pomona.

The work didn’t stop on the weekends, when he’d change the oil in the cars, wash the cars and

mow the lawn. His love language involved work and educating others. That’s why, following his

wife’s passing in 1995, it was important for him to start the Lena Sarkisian Nursing Scholarship

through the First Congregational Church of Redlands, doling out funds to students interested in

the nursing field for about 15 years.

Stanley is preceded in death by his wife, Lena; his parents, Levon and Pepay Sarkisian, and his

sister, Ogen (Savoian). He is survived by his daughter, Nola, (Dan Miller) of Encino; his two

grandchildren, Alex and Carson; his sister, Alice (Vartanian); four nephews; two nieces; seven

great-nephews; one great-niece; one great-great nephew and two great-great nieces.

A graveside service will be held on Jan. 27 th at 10am at Hillside Memorial Park in Redlands

followed by a memorial service at 1:30pm at First Christian Church of North Hollywood.