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Captain Haig Bodour, SC (Supply Corps), USNR (Ret), 70, passed away, Monday, February 1, 2010 in Houston, Texas. Born October 30, 1939 in Fort Worth, Haig attended Lily B. Clayton Elementary, Monning Junior High and Arlington Heights High School. His love for the military began at the early age of nine when he received a child’s navy sailor suit from his brother, later influencing his decision to join the ROTC program at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque. He graduated in 1962 with a BA in Marketing and was an enthusiastic member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity whose principles of traditional values and chivalry became the cornerstone of Haig’s life, inspiring him to live life to the fullest and continually strive for excellence.

Soon after graduation he married his college sweetheart, Sharon Kathleen "Kathy" Riley, and they moved to San Francisco Hunters Pointe where he began his military service at the naval shipyard. From the west coast he journeyed east to the Navy Supply School in NYC where he and Kathy took in as many Broadway shows as they could in six weeks. Upon returning to California, they set up house at the North Island Naval Base in San Diego. After fulfilling four years of active duty, Haig and Kathy came home to Albuquerque. He returned to his alma mater to become assistant manager at the UNM bookstore and enrolled in the Anderson School of Management where he received his MBA in 1971.

Haig began his career in real estate as an apprentice for Sporing Real-Estate Brokers. After Mr. Sporing’s death, Haig acquired the business, got his real-estate license and established Bodour Enterprises. In addition to embarking in real estate, Haig continued on at UNM in 1977 to head up the child development program, ISRAD (Institute for Social Research and Development), as its financial administrator for three years. He also returned to active duty and was influential in the rebuilding and restructuring of the Navy’s Supply Corps operations in New Orleans. For almost two decades Haig owned & operated the Old Town Copy and Office Supply on Central Avenue. After selling Old Town Copy, Haig focused on Bodour Enterprises managing numerous properties and enjoying teaching advanced tax preparation classes at Jackson-Hewitt. During this time he opted to take early retirement from the Navy, ending his military career.

After retiring, Haig became actively involved with the Association of the United States Navy (AUSN), formerly the Naval Reserve Association, where he served as Vice President of the National Budget and Finance Committee. For the past several years, he served on the scholarship committee of the AUSN Education Assistance Program (aka Naval Reserve Association Scholarship Program) helping to choose the annual scholarship recipient.

Haig took pleasure in tickling the ivories and strumming a mean guitar. He cultivated an artistic taste for the fine arts with Kathy and his love for opera flourished. He served as president of The Opera Guilds (New Mexico) for two years and was an active member in the Albuquerque chapter. He also supported and volunteered not only with the Albuquerque Opera and Albuquerque Symphony but also the Santa Fe Opera.

In 2004, Haig and Kathy ‘retired’ to Galveston to be closer to family and near his sister in Houston. Unfortunately his dreams of a relaxing retirement were interrupted by the diagnosis of cancer in the summer of 2007 and the havoc of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Haig fought a valiant battle against mantle cell lymphoma and had just completed renovations on his home when he took a turn for the worse after his 70th birthday in 2009. We will miss Haig’s engaging smile, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes and his usual quick-witted retort of "I’m here to help." May Haig finally obtain the peace that eluded him the last years of his life.

Haig was preceded in death by his mother and father, Angele and Harry Bodour; his Uncle Anton Hagopian and wife, Emma, all survivors of the Armenian genocide; sister-in-law, Laura Russell Bodour and nephew, Steven John Galoostian. He is survived by Kathy, his wife of 47 years; son, Armen Francis Bodour of Fairfax, Virginia; daughter, Adria Angele Bodour-Romo and husband, Reggie Romo of San Antonio, Texas; mother-in-law, Frances Riley of Albuquerque; brother, Edward Harry Bodour of Austin; sister Alice Galoostian and husband, Josef; four nieces, one nephew, two great-nieces and one great-nephew.

In Memory of Haig Bodour
1939-2010