Azad Mesrobian

Azad Mesrobian, age 79, of St. Peter, died on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.

Visitation will be held at 10 am on Saturday, September 7 at Christ The King church in Mankato, followed by an 11 am service. A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, September 6, from 5 – 7 pm at Northview Mortuary in North Mankato. 

Azad was born in an Armenian refugee camp in Aleppo, Syria on October 9, 1944, to Harotoun and Mary Mesrobian. His parents, fleeing violent deportation from Turkey following the Armenian genocide in 1918, settled in the refugee camp, married, and started a family there. The youngest of four children, Azad’s siblings were Sam, Ara, and Lucine. Azad was named by his father; his name means “free” in Armenian.

Azad graduated from Aleppo College in 1964 and then emigrated to the United States that same year, following the trail set by his siblings. He attended Minnesota State College, Mankato, and South Dakota State University in Brookings South Dakota, earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. 

He moved to Minnesota and started his career at Electric Machinery in North Minneapolis. In 1969, he married Karen Lawton, and they had two daughters, Kristin and Carrie. The family later moved to Mankato in 1980, where he worked as Engineering Manager for Kato Engineering. A licensed professional engineer, Azad worked for many other companies on power generation issues as an employee or consultant. He was dedicated to his work and traveled the globe for it. But his work was always in service of his wife and family; he always missed them when he was away and preferred to travel in their company. 

Azad was always busy. In 1999, he and Karen moved out to the country, where they built a house on seventeen acres, a source of happiness for him. He liked to putter around his property, split logs, collect maple syrup, read books, sit around the fire, help his wife with her multiple gardens, and have his children and grandchildren come to visit. Since he had never known his grandparents, his relationship with his own grandchildren was very important; he wrote each of them letters every week, telling them his thoughts and stories of his own youth. He loved being with them and would do anything for them: bring them up north for summer trips, take them swimming whenever he had the chance, attend their school plays, sports events, and concerts. 

He was a prolific writer who wrote letters to his family and friends and newspapers as well as a full-length memoir about his life and many essays about his travels. He never returned to Aleppo, but he was able to visit Armenia later in life with his wife, children, and grandchildren multiple times.

A generous man, Azad always held those in need close to his heart, giving often to charitable causes and individuals going through tough times. A proud Armenian, he commemorated the Armenian genocide every April 24 and was always in solidarity with those who had suffered similarly across the globe, whether it was from political violence or natural disasters. Throughout his life, he donated to many Armenian initiatives, most recently the resettlement of refugees from the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) region. Having been an international student and immigrant himself, he liked to befriend international students from Minnesota State University, Mankato and he was active in the Armenian Cultural Organization of Minnesota, where he served as President, helped with the Gaghant New Year’s celebration, and attended the Armenian Book Club (where you could hear his complaints about the selected books frequently). 

Azad was a hilarious guy who made people laugh, sometimes unintentionally, with his off-the-cuff observations. He was a frugal and humble man, who would go around in stained old clothes unless Karen stepped in and threw them out. He was the kind of man who always picked up the check and never wanted to leave anyone out. He loved good food and taught his family, including his grandchildren, to make favorite foods from his early years: lahmajun, dolma, sarma, hummos, tabouli, and falafel, just to name a few. He didn’t have a lot of leisure hobbies but would do anything Karen wanted to do: see movies, travel back to South Dakota where she was from, visit her relatives in Norway, go to endless museums, accompany her to buy clothes (he claimed he held a world record of sitting for dressing room waiting areas) and buy her ice cream when she wanted something sweet.

Azad is survived by his wife, Karen, of St. Peter, Minnesota; his two daughters, Kristin Mesrobian (Jeff Johnson) and Carrie Mesrobian (Adrian Durand) of Columbia Heights, Minnesota; sister, Lucine Ishkanian (Krikor) of Chicago; sisters-in-law, Sylvia Mesrobian of St. Paul, Arpie Mesrobian of Toronto, and Roxanne Gilbert (Cal) of Loxley, Alabama; brother-in-law, Ralph David Lawton (Annette) of St. Paul, Minnesota; nephews, George and Jack Ishkanian (Argelia) of Chicago, Illinois, Scott Mesrobian of Champlin, Minnesota, and Allen Mesrobian of Toronto; nieces, Sheree Mazzarese (Dave) and Rosie Popywycz (George) of Toronto, Kaia Lawton and Justine Grandel (Jonny) of St. Paul, Minnesota; grandnieces Johanna and Jacqueline Ishkanian of Chicago, Illinois, Paige Mazzarese of Phoenix, Arizona and Sarah Mazzarese of Stillwater, Minnesota; grandchildren, Sidian and Owen Johnson of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Matilda Durand-Mesrobian of Columbia Heights, Minnesota; honorary daughter Anahit Apinyan (Khazhak Ghazaryan) of Dilijan, Armenia; and numerous cousins and friends.

Azad was preceded in death by his brothers Sam and Ara Mesrobian; his parents, Mary and Haroutoun, his in-laws, Gerald and Selma Lawton, and his childhood friend from kindergarten, Zaven Khanjian. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Armenian Youth Initiative here.