Jirair Hovnanian

Jirair S. Hovnanian (June 9, 1927 – August 14, 2007) was an American home builder of Armenian descent based in New Jersey. Hovnanian's business developed and built over 6,000 houses throughout South Jersey.

Early life Hovnanian was born in Kirkuk, Iraq. The Hovnanian family, including Jirair, emigrated to the United States in 1948. The Hovnanians spoke very little English when they arrived in the US. The family settled in North Philadelphia. Jirair graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in business. In 1964, Jirair split off from his brothers' company and founded his own construction business, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey. Hovnanian and two scientists teamed up to found Nature's Wonder, a Philadelphia metropolitan area company that extracts a product from peat that encourages plant growth. Hovnanian was, himself, a champion grower of roses.

Hovnanian founded the Center for the Advancement of Natural Discoveries using Light Emission (CANDLE) in Armenia, his family's homeland before his parents fled to Iraq. The center, which is located in Yerevan, Armenia, "generates beams of ultraviolet light for protein crystallography." It helps to employ Armenian scientists who would otherwise have to move abroad to find work. He received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 2006 from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations, Inc.

Death Hovnanian suffered heart failure at his home in Mount Laurel Township, New Jersey and was pronounced dead at Virtua West Jersey Hospital in Marlton, New Jersey ten days after completing the episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. He was 80 years old. His funeral was held at St. Gregory's Armenian Apostolic Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and he was interred in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. He was survived by his immediate family, i.e. his widow, Elizabeth; their sons, Stephen and Peter and Jirair's three brothers and two sisters.