Noted real estate developer and former owner of the Southampton Bath and Tennis Club George G. Semerjian of Southampton died on September 22. He was 92.
Born December 31, 1923, in Brooklyn NY to Armenian immigrant parents, Levon and Makruhi “Margaret,” Mr. Semerjian graduated from Brooklyn Tech High School and entered the Air Force, rising to B-29 bombardier during World War II. After the war, Mr. Semerjian returned to Brooklyn and took his only ever 9 to 5 office job working for a steel reinforcing company, while lifeguarding on summer weekends at Lake Ronkonkoma. There, he observed a rundown rooming house, which he bought in 1950 and converted into a restaurant called the Suffolk House. This was the first page in a long catalogue of real estate foresights.
While attending Hofstra University in the 1950s, he left the steel reinforcing company and became partners with the owner of a cement ready mix company. Those two later became founding partners in 1958 when they formed the Suffolk Material and Mining Company. By 1961, much of that business had been profitably sold off and Mr. Semerjian acquired 10 acres of largely undeveloped commercial space in Whitestone, Queens, which he had rezoned for light industrial use.
Mr. Semerjian acquired the Southampton Bath and Tennis Club within a few years and ran the club personally until its sale in the late 1990s. This was the first of many properties he developed over the next 40 years in Southampton, under his umbrella company Meadowmere Realty and Construction, formed in the early 1970s. He converted the Irving Hotel into the residential condos on First Neck Lane and laid out the properties on Terry Court. He acquired the nearly 40-acre Coopers Farm and created an entire neighborhood of single family homes on that property, eventually building the residential condos that lay behind the Rogers Library. Well into his 80s, he transformed the Hill Street properties that were once automobile showrooms and shops into commercial properties housing many local and national businesses.
While residing in Southampton and keeping a pied a terre in New York, Mr. Semerjian met and married Madelle Hegeler, who remained his wife until her death in 1991. The couple actively supported the Rogers Memorial Library, donating time and property, as evidenced by a building wing named in her honor. Mr. Semerjian’s philanthropic efforts extended to numerous local organizations and individuals, as well as maintaining his longtime support of the Armenian Church. For most of his life, Mr. Semerjian, “Gago” to his family and close friends, was heavily involved in the community, serving on the Southampton Cultural Center’s Board of Directors, holding various officer positions for the Long Island Builders Association, and serving as a full time usher at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Southampton.
Predeceased by his wife, Madelle Hegeler Semerjian, Mr. Semerjian is survived by a sister, Mary Semerjian Smith; a nephew, James A. Tarzian and wife Susan; niece, Maryann Tarzian and husband Pat Britt; a cousin, James M. Tarzian; and five grandnieces and grandnephews.
Visitation was at O.B. Davis Funeral Homes in Port Jefferson on September 26. A private graveside service took place at Southampton Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, 630 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10016.
on Sep 26, 2016