GLENDALE, Calif. — On Saturday, April 15, 2023, Dr. Vartkes Najarian passed away peacefully at his home in Glendale, CA, surrounded by his wife, children, their spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchild.
Vartkes Najarian was born April 4, 1930 in Kessab, Syria to Hagop, an evangelical minister, and Rebecca. They had five children: Sirvart, Ardashes, Vartkes, Vasken and Vrej. At an early age, the family moved to Beirut, Lebanon. After attending the Armenian Evangelical High School, he graduated from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and received a scholarship to enter the AUB Medical School. In his spare time, he worked as a lifeguard on the Mediterranean beach and was a star athlete and national rowing champion.
He graduated from medical school in 1957, and came to the United States to continue his medical training. After an internship in New Jersey, he went to Chicago, where he trained under the famous Dr. Hampar Kelikian. In 1958, while in Chicago, he married Mary Kevorkian, a registered nurse and AUB graduate.
He completed his orthopedic training at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, where he settled down and raised four children: Ara, Armen, Raffi, and Maro. In the 20 years he spent in Cleveland, he served the community by volunteering as the sports team physician for Hawken School and the West Geauga School District.
In 1980, the family moved to California to be closer to his extended family and the flourishing Armenian community. He started his private orthopedic practice in Glendale where he pioneered the first weekly successful health program on Armenian television.
His first visit to Soviet Armenia in 1984 sparked a burning passion to help his people. Armenia’s health care system at the time was that of a third world country. He broke down political barriers in order to bring Armenia up to modern medical standards. He was the first doctor in the entire Soviet Union to perform arthroscopic surgery. In addition to bringing the valuable arthroscopic surgical equipment, he brought Armenian orthopedic surgeons to the United States to strengthen their training.
