09/03/2026
Obituary for Vartan “The Track Guy” Hamparian
Vartan Hamparian passed away peacefully at the Whatcom Hospice House in Bellingham on Friday morning, August 28, 2026, at the age of 61, after battling cancer for several months.
Vartan was born on January 12, 1965. He was the third grandchild of Armenian Genocide survivors. He was born into the Armenian Apostolic Church and christened at six months of age, and he remembered with great accuracy the practice of the Armenian Apostolic faith as he was growing up. He was part of a close-knit family in New York where Armenian was his first language. His mother, Rose Nevarte, was a ballet dancer and later was the founder and director of the Nayiri Dance Group preserving native Armenian folk dance. His father Nishan was an artist and principal of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Saturday School.
Vartan started piano lessons in early childhood and won a scholarship to The Bronx House School for Performing Arts. Vartan played piano by ear. He voraciously researched the archives of classical composers, and was a huge fan of ragtime music, particularly Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag which he played masterfully.
When Vartan was 15 his mother took him and his sister to California for a short trip to visit friends. That was Vartan’s first time on the West Coast. It was hard to get him back on the plane to New York because he really wanted to stay in California. After high school he attended Savanna State College but it was not for him. He had his heart set on the west coast. After working briefly at Tower Records in Manhattan, he headed west. He lived in California for a time, before living in Nevada and finding restaurant work. After one lucky streak on a slot machine he decided to make his way to Vancouver, British Columbia. On one trip to Vancouver, he overstayed his time there and was not permitted to re-enter Canada. As a result, he settled in Blaine, Washington.
Vartan was a fascinating character who attracted a wide variety of people in Blaine. He may best be known as a runner who often was seen running, even sprinting, around the track at Blaine High School (in what folks called “his short shorts”). Also, he loved his morning coffee. Early on he found his coffee at the Cost Cutter store cafe. Later he would go to Edaleen Dairy and Starbucks Coffee where he enjoyed meeting and talking with friends from the community, especially Kellee and her son. He was also a fan of old movies and television shows, like MASH and westerns like Rawhide and Maverick from the 70’s, and enjoyed matching trivia related to these and other shows.
Several months ago, Vartan began attending Christ the King Church in downtown Blaine where he met a number of new and helpful friends. He always had great questions about the Christian faith. Just weeks ago, in room 318 at Peace Health St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham, he reaffirmed his childhood faith. Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Vartan found this verse quoted at the end of the funeral service for President Eisenhower, and he wanted to know if this was available for him as well. Of course it was. He prayed a simple sinner’s prayer with his friend Charles, and he accepted faith in Jesus Christ and trusted in him as his Lord and Savior because of this passage. He affirmed several times over the last couple weeks that accepting Christ for salvation at the hospital was the crowning achievement of his life. Today he lives forever in the presence of Jesus Christ.
Vartan is survived by his brother Aram Hamparian and his sister Anahid Hamparian, cousins Aram Souren, Lorig, and Raffi Hamparian, Antranig and Lucine Kasbarian, and Elizabeth Derderian.
Vartan appreciated and honored his pastors, Charles and Andy, and countless other church friends and community friends in Blaine.
A celebration of life service was held at Christ the King in Blaine on Wednesday evening, September 2, 2026.
