Ira Stepanian

Ira Stepanian, former CEO and chairman of Bank of Boston, died Feb. 13 2017 in Bonita Springs, Fla. He was 80. Mr. Stepanian was born in Cambridge to Armenian immigrant parents. He graduated from Somerville High School and received a BA in economics from Tufts College and an MBA from Boston College. He began his banking career with Bank of Boston in 1963 as a management trainee and worked his way to chief executive officer in 1987 and elected chairman in 1989. Mr. Stepanian had been director, trustee or chairman of numerous organizations, including Intercontinental Real Estate, NYNEX (now Verizon), Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Common Angels, Brock Capital Group, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the International Monetary Conference, The Bankers Roundtable, Legal Sea Foods, TAD Resources International, General Chemical and GenTek, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts University, Boston Public Library Foundation, the Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Science, Senior Advisory Council of New England Banking Institute, Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and a Fellow of the Center for Business and Government at the Kennedy School, Harvard University. He was a member of the Wianno Club, The Beach Club in Craigville, the Boston College Club and the Colony Golf & Country Club. Mr. Stepanian is survived by his wife, Jacquie; two sons, Philip and Steven and his wife, Kate; a daughter, Alisa; and three granddaughters, Sophie, Charlotte and Elizabeth.