David C Vartanian

Major David C. Vartanian, 91, died 11/26/15 at Kingston at DuPont, his home since October 2013. Born 8/21/24 in Chicago to Walter and Edna (Blank) Vartanian, David graduated from Lane Tech High School in 1942, and then enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He flew missions as a bombardier/navigator during WWII in B-24 aircraft with the 376th and the 456th Heavy Bombardment Groups, and served 20 years in the Air Force Reserves. After earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Northwestern University, David worked as a research chemist for companies such as US Borax, Proctor & Gamble, and Great Lakes Carbon—where he met Lois A. Matthies, his loving wife of 50 years to whom he was exceptionally devoted. Opportunity presented itself in the form of a fledgling carpet storefront started by his father. With his brother, Walter, they developed the tremendously successful, high-end floor-covering store Vartanian Carpet, Inc., of Palatine, IL. David retired as the corporation’s President in 1986; he and Lois spent winters in New Port Richey, Florida, and then lived there year-round as of 1993. David was an involved, loving, and generous father to his daughter, Lesa Rae Vartanian, and a very proud grandfather to his heart’s delight—Stella Rae Brewer, whose birth prompted he and Lois to move to Fort Wayne, IN in 2005. Preceded in death by his wife Lois, and his brother Walter, David will be remembered with love and admiration by Lesa, Stella, his son-in-law Bob Brewer, his sister Lilyan V. Dayton (Earl), his siblings-in-law Lynne R. Zeschke (nee Matthies), Lee G. and Ruth E. Matthies, and Mary Kay Vartanian (Walter), his many nieces and nephews, and scores of friends and acquaintances in various places who enjoyed his wit, humor, and generosity. As he wished, David’s body was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this month. His family welcomes you to a memorial service in his honor on Saturday, January 23, 2016 at Messiah Lutheran Church, 7211 Stellhorn Road, at 10:30 AM.