Sheperdigian, Dr. Ara Armand, age 84, died June 29, 2016, at home in Mt. Pleasant as he wished. Visitation will be Wednesday, July 6 from 2 pm to 4 pm and 6pm to 8 pm at Rowley Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held at St. Johns Episcopal Church at 11:00 AM on July 25th 2016. Visitors will be received at the church one hour before the service. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts may be made to Central Michigan University Library, 250 W. Preston St., Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 or to Veterans Memorial Library 301 S. University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48858

     He was born on November 15, 1931 in Syracuse New York to Susan Emily (Seraydarian) and Vartan Harutun Sheperdigian. He graduated from Central High School in Syracuse in 1949 by which time he had attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He graduated from Cornell University in 1953 majoring in Biochemistry. He worked for Parke-Davis and Company as a Research Assistant in Pathology and Toxicology where he met his wife, Barbara Jean Johnson. They were married July 23, 1956 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Detroit, beginning their sixty-year journey through life together. He graduated from the State University of New York Medical School at Syracuse in 1960. The family moved to Ann Arbor where he interned at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, followed by a one-year residency in Pathology. At this point he returned to Parke, Davis where he worked in Clinical Investigation. After four years he realized that research was not how he wanted to focus his career. He returned to St. Joseph Mercy for two more years of residency, this time in internal medicine. He began his practice of medicine at the Davis Clinic in Mt. Pleasant where he stayed for 27 years until the clinic closed in 1994. He retired completely in 1995 after two interesting and satisfying experiences filling in a vacancy, first in Sault Ste. Marie and then in Sioux Falls, Iowa. He was inducted into the newly-established Physicians Hall of Fame in 2006 at Central Michigan Community Hospital, now McLaren Central Michigan, among the first group of physicians so honored. He was loved by his patients and respected by his colleagues.

     Starting with toy soldiers as child, Ara was all about hobbies. A partial list of his interests at various times in his life: Model airplanes of World War II, photography, stamp-collecting, motorcycles, target shooting, hand-loading, playing guitar, working with wood and metal, and scuba diving. Skills learned in Boy Scouts were put to use camping, canoeing, kayaking, and sailing. He loved being outdoors in woods and in or on water. If it was broken, he could fix it; if you needed a tool, he had it. In later years there was more extensive travel by motor home across the U.S. and Canada visiting National Parks and art museums. There was some travel abroad and a memorable four-month cruise around the world. His retirement years allowed him to focus on computers and the internet. Of all his interests, reading, especially history and biography, and photography in all its forms were life-long.

     His greatest pleasure was his family. He is survived by his wife and five children, Douglas (Terese) of Weybridge, England, Mark (Nancy) of White Lake, Michigan, Janet (Sean) Beatty, of Fishers, Indiana, Alice (Pasquale) Ciccu of Bothell, Washington and Mt. Pleasant, and Mary Ellen Sheperdigian of Seattle; seven grandchildren, Paolo (Kristina) Ciccu, Ara B. Sheperdigian, Samantha (Bryan) Brittain, Angela (Gregory) Robinson, Dr. Adam Sheperdigian, Zachary (Ashley) Sheperdigian and Jason Sheperdigian; three great-grandchildren, Leonardo and Liliana Ciccu, Carmelo Robinson and step great-grandson Mason Brittain and by his brother Harry Sheperdigian and nieces Linda DeYoung and Lorraine Utley. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister and brother-in-law Geraldine and John DeYoung.