Al Melkonian, a beloved member of the Santa Barbara community for more than 60 years, passed away on May 19 peacefully at his home on the Mesa at the age of 98.
Albert was born to Armenian immigrants Stepan and Mary Melkonian (Hovanessian) in Brooklyn, New York on November 3, 1926. He was the youngest brother to Harold and William Melkonian, who both fought for the United States during WWII. It was Albert’s great ambition to join his brothers in the war, and he attempted to enlist multiple times, but it was not to be. He studied at Brooklyn Technical High School, where he met his lifelong best friend, Bill Sandstrom, and went on to graduate from Ohio State University, supporting the U.S. military after graduation by teaching electronics at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey.
In 1957, Albert married the love of his life, Jane Freeman, who had grown up just blocks from his family home. They had their first son, Steve, in Brooklyn before moving to California, where they had two more sons, James and Thomas.