Lake Forest Obituary: Armen 'Jack' Adajian, 103

Armen “Jack” Adajian, formerly of Lake Bluff, passed away peacefully on May 13 at Balmoral Care Center in Lake Forest, his home for the last four years. He was 103. Born in 1918 in New Britain, Connecticut, Jack’s parents were Armenian immigrants, which he frequently mentioned with pride. Jack was active in the Boy Scouts in Connecticut, earning his Eagle Scout badge. After scouting, he attended the University of Missouri, graduating with a journalism degree. Jack paid for his education by working in a photography studio, reflecting a lifelong interest.

During World War II Jack served in the Army, writing technical manuals for the Quartermaster Corps and inspecting meat in the Chicago stockyards. After the war he and former commanding officer Roland Isker opened an advertising agency in downtown Chicago. Jack ran the agency in Tribune Tower until his retirement. In 1949, he married Katherine (Katie) Bird, then a columnist for the Chicago Sun Times, who in later years worked with him at the agency. She preceded him in death in 2008.

Jack studied art and painting at the Art Institute of Chicago and at Lake Forest College. His sense of visual design was extremely acute; he once described it as “obsessive, maybe pathological.” It was reflected in his appreciation of natural beauty. He loved the natural world and enjoyed birdwatching and mushroom hunting, spending considerable time with family at his cabin on the Wisconsin River. After retirement, Jack and Katie spent their winters in the Florida Keys. There, well into his eighties, he loved to work hard in the broiling sun, planting exotic flora and beating back tropical nature. In the 1960s he was bitten by the “tennis bug” and became a passionate player, teacher and fan, dedicated to improving his own game and playing energetically with partners of all ages well into his nineties.

Family and friends will remember Jack as an intense, creative, funny, hard-headed, vigorous, curious, outspoken man who lived with gusto.

He will be greatly missed by, among others, his sons Michael, Joseph, Thomas, and Bowen (Lisa) and his grandchildren Alexander, Manasa, Rama, and Alyssa.

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for the caregiving, medical, emotional, and spiritual support during Jack’s last years provided by the staff at Balmoral Place and Westmoreland Nursing Center.

Funeral arrangements are private.

This obituary was provided by the Adajian family. The views expressed here are the author's own.