Celebrations of Life have become an increasingly acceptable way for relatives and friends to say goodbye to a departed loved one. The family of Sarkis Manoukian, local auto mechanic and owner of Norm’s Automotive in Los Alamitos for 39 years, expanded the event at Rush Park in Rossmoor last Sunday to about 300 of Sarkis’ closest friends and loyal customers to participate.
Beloved is not a word usually attributed to local mechanics even after their passing. but it was certainly in the air and on the lips of those who rose to the podium on this day to honor this no ordinary mechanic and business owner in Los Alamitos who passed away June 23 at 63 years old.
Sons David and Michael were first to address the gathering. And spoke of their father as first and foremost a family man devoted to them and their mother Carol, who followed them to the mic echoing their praise of her husband as a hard working provider. But then, with a nod to many in the audience who were simply faithful customers of Sarkis, she added, “he was more than about fixing cars, he was about caring for people.”
Indeed most of the people who followed the family to the podium to celebrate Sarkis Manoukian were long time customers of his services, each recounting how Sarkis gave them more than just service. More than the limits of a billable hour. As one of many customers-turned-friends put it, “He always treated you as a person he took a personal interest in.”
I know this to be true because I myself had such an experience while under the services of Sarkis Manoukian. Some years back I brought my aging work van to Sarkis and Norm’s Automotive for front end repair. Short on funds and pressed for time I explained to Sarkis that I used the van for video production work related to Los Al TV and community non- profit events, with one such event coming up. Could he just get the front end minimally operational so I could cover the event with the van? He did so . . . and more in just two days, replacing major components and essentially rebuilding the front end of my van to almost factory specs. Then parked it on the street for me to pick up. And when I approached him to settle my bill he only waved me off with a “I’ll catch you next time.”
Well, as often is the case with old cars, there was a next time, and a next time. Only now he would engage me in the office to ask how my community TV projects were going before taking my old truck in for repair. Again he would fix my old beater up, and then send me on my way with a “catch you next time” instead of a bill, but only after a lively discussion around affairs of the day.
Sarkis Manoukian literally kept my wheels rolling and my community TV productions on schedule in those days, exacting no more payment out of me than a personal interest in how things were going at Los AL TV and how I was managing through it. But until last Sunday, I was never sure what his motives for helping me truly were. Was his interest in the successes and shortcomings of Los Al TV and the community events I covered? Or with me as a struggling videographer and community producer with a certain point of view about the world that interested him?
Now I see from the testimonials of those “customers” who spoke Sunday of his integrity, his honesty, and his personal interest in their stories, perhaps informed by his own immigrant backstory and as a struggling entrepreneur, that it was likely Sarkis’ passion for people and a sense of shared humanity that prompted his interest and generosity in his dealings with me. “Catch you next time” was just his way of saying I like you and what you’re doing, keep going.
It was always my intent to return to Norm’s and present Sarkis with some token of appreciation for taking an interest in my troubles back then, automotive and otherwise. Though I cannot now thank him to his face I can add my testimony to the experiences of others who spoke on Sunday of the “bright light” Sarkis Manoukian brought to the world through his kindness and his compassion for others.
Catch ya next time, Sarkis.