THANK YOU, STEVE JOBS!

 Dr. Richard J. Bishirjian

 

 Yorktown Patriot

 http://www.yorktownpatriot.com/article_827.shtml

 Aug 25 2011

 Colorado

 

 America values sport because the records set by athletes are standards

 of excellence that cannot be duplicated in most other pursuits. Babe

 Ruth's home run record. Roger Bannister's four minute mile and other

 records inspire us. As do the examples of human spirit reflected in

 the careers of Johnny Unitas, Roger Maris, and Joe Namath that are

 what political philosophers call "experiences of transcendence." We

 see a glimpse of "end time" and for a moment transcend this life and

 live in the realm where things eternal preside.

 

 Then someone like Steve Jobs comes along and sets a standard of

 excellence in Business that is unparalleled.

 

 If you ever started a business, struggled to make it succeed, or just

 to make payroll, you know how much Steve Jobs has accomplished.

 

 Like many entrepreneurs, his company came to the point that they

 thought they needed a "manager," not an entrepreneur at the helm of

 Apple. He was kicked upstairs; a marketing "genius" from Pepsi was

 brought in-and nearly killed the company.

 

 Back came Steve Jobs who turned the company around and grew Apple

 into the highest capitalized company in America.

 

 If you live long enough you come to realize that there are no straight

 lines in human life. We set out to accomplish one thing and make

 frequent course corrections. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell and

 others like them experienced immediate success and built important

 corporations that employ hundreds of thousands of employees.

 

 Most do not. It takes years of hard work and sacrifice that may

 require a series of startups before one clicks.

 

 When you're on that road and look at how difficult the U.S. government

 makes it for those who create jobs for others, you come to admire men

 like Steve Jobs. Jobs was adopted by Armenian parents, so maybe that

 had something to do with his entrepreneurial success.

 

 In 1915 when an Islamic mullah in Turkey issued a fatwa calling for

 the killing of Armenian Christians, Armenians living in Turkey ran

 for their lives or were killed. Many got away and came to America

 where they were hit by the Great Depression and then World War II.

 

 On my office wall at Yorktown University is a registry from Ellis

 Island where my Armenian grandfather arrive a few weeks after the

 sinking of the Titanic. Even the prospect of death at sea didn't deter

 him from getting out of Turkey-before the genocide. My grandmother

 was less fortunate and fled to Egypt where her family was broken up,

 her fourteen year old sister married to an Egyptian, and she made

 her way to America.

 

 Few Armenian immigrants spoke English, even fewer were college

 educated, so they were forced to survive by their wits. Since

 few employment opportunities were available to them, they started

 businesses. The lucky ones were sponsored by Protestant religious

 denominations that were active in Turkey at that time. Any way they

 could, this generation of refugees made their way to a new and strange

 country, learned English, found a way to make a living and started

 families. Their children were old enough to serve in World War II and

 after the war these first generation Americans made their way in life.

 

 One such family adopted Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs is responsible for

 the good fortune of tens of thousands of Americans who work for Apple.

 

 And now, the end has come not because Steve wants to retire or because

 he's bored. There are no straight lines in life and if there were,

 Steve Jobs would be around for future decades of opportunities to

 make decisions that would make Apple even greater than it is today.

 

 Thank you, Steve. You have earned our respect, admiration and

 gratitude.