Claude Ohanesian (1960-2022)

 

Claude with his favorite Packard
My photo at a local car show

It is the one-year anniversary of the passing of my dear friend Claude.  He passed away on February 2, 2022.  Tomorrow, Feb 5, I have arranged for his one-year requiem at our church as is our tradition. 

Claude was an amazing person.  He lived life with a passion, bold and gregarious, that many of us only wish we could.  This totally matched his personality which in a word was infectious. 

I have known Claude since the 1970s through the Armenian Youth Federation, a wonderful organization that has help bond Armenian friendships for 90 years.  He grew up in Granite City, IL where Armenians settled to work in the steel mills, and I grew up in Detroit where the auto industry provided the same attraction to that first generation Armenians that came to the US. 

In those, our teenage and college years, we were acquaintances for the most part.  Upon graduating from college, he took a job in the investment business in Chicago, married a Detroit girl, Audrey, and eventually settled in Lake Forest where my wife grew up and my in-laws lived.  My in-laws, Harold and Mary Mardoian, would include Claude and Audrey at family gatherings and holidays.  So, Claude was there many times when we visited Lake Forest.  Our friendship grew from these visits.

Our friendship and bond really became something special when we moved to Lake Forest and we spent a lot more time together.  When we were looking for our house, we actually put a bid in on a house right next door to Claude and Audrey.  I called him and told him of this possibility, and we were both way too excited about the prospect.  Ultimately, we did not buy that house because it required a complete re-do on the inside.  We ended up buying an even nicer house in a pristine move-in condition.  Instead of being next door neighbors, we lived two miles apart.  We laughed about almost being next door neighbors until he passed away.

As Claude had a passion for life, the passion was first and foremost for his family and friends.  His wife and daughters, Lena and Christina, meant everything to him.  He did everything for them and always would say that they had it so good he “wanted to come back as one of his daughters.” Claude spoke with great reverence and extraordinary love for his grandmother.  He would bring her up all the time with references to the lessons she taught him, the food she made, and the unconditional love she had for him.  I wish I could have met this lady that he always talked about.

Claude embraced his chosen profession as financial advisor and investment counselor.   His personality and acumen endeared clients to him.  He was always just a phone call or text away and he was always on the phone.  He was always having financial reviews and often over dinner.  He started at Smith Barney and worked his way to a top performer at Citi which had bought Smith Barney.  In 2011, he started his own business, CGO Wealth Management.  He was so excited and proud to have his own office and loved having an office in Highland Park and not having to trek downtown anymore.   He did interviews in the press and on TV.  He recorded his own videos and was even talking about writing a book about investing.

Claude loved baseball.  It was a passion unlike I have ever seen but that can be said for everyone of Claude’s passionate interests.  He read all the classic baseball books and would quote statistics, stories, and even quotes from them.  He was a lifelong fan of his beloved St. Louis Cardinals.  In Chicago, he had season tickets to both the White

At a Cubs Cardinals game in 2014

Sox and the Cubs.  He treated me to a game every now and then.  It was a real treat.  And he did it in such great style.  He had excellent seats and always had access to the executive clubs at both stadiums where we eat well, and then make our way to the seats.  As enjoyable as the games were, it was the time spent in the car conversing on anything and everything that were even more memorable.

Claude loved two countries, the United States and Armenia.  He has read the definitive biographies of more Presidents and visited more Presidential Libraries than anyone I know.  He admired Theodore Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan.  He was certainly a market oriented fiscal conservative but a bit more liberal in when it came to social policy.  We had great discourse on the path this country should take.  He could listen to opposing viewpoints with a measured calm the whole country would benefit from adopting

As for Armenia and Armenian causes, Claude was active, involved, and generous.  He gave of his time, investment advice, and donations to the All Saints Church here in Chicago and the Armenian National Committee (ANC) of which he was the head of ANC-IL for several years.  He came to St. Gregory Armenian Church in Chicago where we performed my From Ararat to America Concert.  He never stopped raving about that concert, how rich our culture is, how much he loved the music he heard and learned about at our concert.

Claude was a collector, a most serious collector. He had a crazy number of baseball shirts and hats.  He had a fine collection of cigars of which half were Cuban.  Since starting CGO, Claude got into vintage cars and autographs.  I remember when brought his first vintage car, a red 1957 Thunderbird.  It was a beautiful convertible.  He brought it over to show me and give me a ride in it.  He next bought a cream yellow 1939 Packard Darin convertible with a rumble seat that I once climbed into.  He did not stop there and kept acquiring cars.  He bought one garage to store his dozen cars and then sold that and bought an even bigger warehouse to hold his very impressive collection of 50-60 cars.  He had more Packards than any other nameplate.  His favorite was a 1938 Packard Super Eight Sedanca de Ville with a most impressive history.   Upon his passing, Jay Leno bought his 1956 Packard Caribbean.  He had cars from the 30s through the 80s.  He had Natalie Wood's Buick Riviera.  He had an MG which he wanted to sell me because it was my initials.  I may have bought it but for the fact it was incredibly difficult getting in and out of the small sports car.  Because of him I did buy two cars.  One is my everyday car:  Old New Car – New Older Car.  The other one car is my one soon to be vintage car:  A New, Even Older, Car.  I cannot help but think of him every time I drive around town with the top down in my SL.

His autograph collection was just as extensive and impressive.  It ranged from the Rat Pack to the Three Stooges, from Lincoln to Reagan, The Beatles, and so many others that I cannot recall.  The collection also reflected his love for baseball and US Presidents. He had hundreds of autographs and collages of autographs and photos of sportsmen, artists, entertainers, and political leaders he admired.

Claude was a natural comic and mimic.  He was very good at both.  He would regale anyone he was with be it just one person or an entire dinner party.  At baseball games, he would provide the play by play as Harry Carey.  He did a great Winston Churchill.  Being a student of the great man, he also had memorized some of his greatest quotes.  He could be JFK or Ronald Reagan. He would leave voice messages in the voice of Churchill, John Lennon, a iconic Armenian Priest from our youth, folks in our circle of friends, and the eccentric and colorful members of out Armenian community.

He would call me up and tell me to meet him at his warehouse which he affectionately called “the man cave.”  He would show me his latest acquisition, or we would just have a soda and chat.  I went with him to look at cars he was thinking about buying.  He would call and just pick me up to tour around on a weekend afternoon in one of his cars.  I would do the same in one of my two cars.  I went to a few local shows where he was showing a car or two.  I was always amazed by the number of people who knew him and how close he was to everyone.  Claude had the same impact on everyone.  He was a dear friend to so many; more than anyone else I have ever known.  There was a uniqueness to each friendship and a sameness as well.  We all miss him dearly.  He was a truly special guy in this regard. 

For the past few years, we knew Claude was not well.  But he hid the severity of his cancer that he never told me anything about it.  I truly believe he thought he was going to beat it.  He was that kind of positive guy.  He was about to begin a major renovation on the man cave.  Another Armenian friend was to have done the renovation spent a lot of time with Claude drawing up plans.  Claude showed me the drawings for what he was planning to do.  He was going to have a truly gorgeous space for his office, autographs, and cars.  It was going to be a space that could be used for fundraisers and other social gatherings.  He showed me these plans a month before he passed.  He did not believe he was going to pass and he wanted to live his life to fullest as long as he could.  He did just that.  Claude lived his life fully, boldly, and passionately, while fighting through the treatments, until the very end.  This memory of my friend’s will and drive that will stay with forever.  I wish I had the money to buy his building, his cars, and realize his vision for the venue.  I would have certainly done it if could. 

While I miss my friend, I think fondly of the many memories of our time together which are all treasured and an inspiration to me.   The year of morning is coming to an end this weekend.  I will never stop missing him nor reflecting on our friendship and the times we had.

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In this time, I have chosen to remember friends that have passed away.  Please read Late Fall or Early Winter? to get a perspective of why I am doing this.

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The car Jay Leno bought from 

Claude's Collection

 

From the Feb 5, 2002 Hokehankist