Stephen Avakian was a passionate and generous man who was deeply devoted to his family and made a significant impact on government, communities, and education. He engaged easily and joyfully with everyone. A former journalist, he said, “Everyone is a feature story.”
He died on March 26 from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. He was 80 years old. Born in New York City, he was the only child of Yervant and Acabie Avakian, Armenian immigrants. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Laura McClary Avakian, and Matthew Hollingshead, who they have viewed as their son, along with Matt’s wife Lauren and sons Andrew and Kyle.
He received a B.S. degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio where he was editor of the school paper, and a Masters in journalism from Northwestern University. He served as a member of the Ohio Army National Guard.
Steve started his career as a reporter for The Cleveland Press, snagging a front page by-line just a month into the job for covering a riot in the city. He left reporting to work on the campaign of Howard Metzenbaum in his first run for U.S. Senator. After Metzenbaum lost, Steve had roles with the Sun Newspaper chain, and as an aide to the Cuyahoga County Commissioners, and briefly did press forc Senator Ed Muskie.
In 1973 he joined John Glenn’s victorious campaign for U.S. Senate as his personal aide. Steve went to Washington with him as press secretary. He later returned to Ohio to manage the re-election campaign and scored a record-breaking win of 1.6 million votes over Glenn’s opponent.
Steve then started his own consulting firm. He worked on candidate campaigns but became a specialist in providing public relations and levy support to school districts and other municipal services. He also served as a school committee member in Hull, MA and was heavily involved in a variety of community projects.
A man of many interests, he loved politics, baseball and everything about trains. He owned thoroughbred horses and invested in real estate and radio stations. He and Laura traveled extensively.
In addition to Laura and Matt, he leaves these beloved relatives and friends:
Sisters-in-law Lynn Hawkins and Mary McClary; brothers-in-law Ed McClary and Glenn Oakley; Cousins: Dorothy Boerner, Clare Payne and Jim Payne. Nieces and nephews: Carter and Christian Oakley, Amy Huster, Grant and Scott Hawkins, Rob McClary, and Francie Cable. Special friends: Joel Gagne, Ponnie Kendall, Don Burns, Rob Reinker, Wade Byrnelson, and Gary Pomerantz.
A celebration of his life will be held in late April. Those who wish to honor him may send donations to the Wellspring Multi-service Centers, 814 Nantasket Ave, Hull, MA 02045 (or wellspringmultiservice.org) or the Armenian General Benevolent Union (the Acabie and Yervant Family Endowment) 55 E. 59th St., New York, NY 10022