U.S. Army Sgt. Hagop Jack Zarifian’s sisters still remember him nearly 80 years after he was killed in action during World War II.
Marion Chapkounian of North Providence recalls walking with her big brother in a storm as the trees were swaying in the wind.
His sister Louise Goorhigian of Connecticut remembers big brother Jack taking her out for ice cream.
“Sgt. Zarifian took great care of his younger siblings,” his obituary says.
The women lost their brother more than 79 years ago, when he died in combat at age 19, but Sgt. Zarifian’s remains, found recently in Germany, are finally being returned for burial with other family members in Providence.
“He’ll be back with his family there,” said John Paul Bellerose, a funeral director the Pontarelli-Marino Funeral Home in Providence, which is handling the arrangements.
Zarifian, who had Armenian ancestry, was the first born in his family and grew up in Bridgeport, Connecticut. After graduating from high school in 1943, he worked as a draftsman with General Electric in Bridgeport. He enlisted in the Army on Jan. 10, 1944, and was promoted to sergeant within a year.