Kevork S Hovnanian

Mr. Hovnanian, who was of Armenian descent, fled Iraq with his brothers and other family members in the late 1950s as a result of political upheaval there. In 1986, he fulfilled a promise he had made to himself during his escape by building an Armenian Apostolic church in Long Branch, N.J. He also contributed money to help build medical facilities in the New York area, including the K. Hovnanian Children’s Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, N.J. Mr. Hovnanian and his three brothers, Hirair, Jirair and Vahak, put in $1,000 each, plus a borrowed $20,000, to start the company, Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said in a news release on its 50th anniversary. The other brothers left the business in 1969. Hirair and Vahak, both of Middletown, N.J., survive. In 1988, his son, Ara K. Hovnanian, succeeded him as president of Hovnanian Enterprises, replacing his father as its chief executive in 1997. The elder Mr. Hovnanian remained chairman of the company’s board until his death. Besides his son, who lives in New York, he is survived by his wife, Sirwart; four daughters, Sossie Najarian, Esto Barry and Lucy Kalian, all of Rumson, N.J., and Nadia Rodriguez, of Boston; and 13 grandchildren.