Martin D. Andonian

Martin D. Andonian, 83, died Friday, September 28 at St. Luke’s Hospital. He was the husband of Helen (Cunningham) Andonian. Mr. Andonian had five children with his first wife Gloria (Barbagallo) Andonian: Mark Andonian, husband of Lucia, of Dartmouth; Paul Andonian and Laura Vaughan of New Bedford; Scott Andonian, husband of Rui Barros, of Provincetown; Lauren Cammann, wife of Peter, of Williston, Vt; and Lynne Andonian of San Francisco, Ca. He was also survived by his sister Alice Roche, seven loving grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Martin was the son of Margaret (Donabed) and Sarkis Andonian. He was born in Boston, grew up in Hyde Park, and lived in Lexington and South Dartmouth for many years.

Mr. Andonian graduated from MIT as a chemical engineer and then attended Boston University to study business. Interested in the field of cryogenics, he founded Andonian Cryogenics Inc in 1957 "with a desk and two kitchen chairs" in Waltham. As the company grew, he moved it to Newtonville and eventually to a 120,000-square-foot warehouse in New Bedford.

A man of many talents, an inventor with several patents, Mr. Andonian was also passionate about helping the small business owner. He dedicated a large portion of his warehouse as a rent-free incubator project for entrepreneurs to support business development and job creation in the community.

Services are private.