Paul Najarian

Paul Lucas Najarian was born November 29th, 1961 in San Diego, CA at Sharp Memorial Hospital. As all babies born at this hospital, Paul was dubbed a 'Sharp' baby. Paul shared his birth date with his mother, Mignette, just as his younger brother, Pete, would be born 2 years later and would share his birth date with his father, John (December 22). Paul grew up with his two older brothers, Jon and David, in La Jolla, CA for two years before the family moved to San Francisco, CA as his younger brother, Pete, joined the clan. The family lived in San Francisco until Paul was 6, and then moved to Minneapolis, MN. Paul enjoyed sports with his brothers and friends, playing football, hockey and skiing as a young man. He was the first of the brothers to break a bone when he broke his leg skiing at Buck Hill at the age of 10.

Paul and his brothers were bused to Minneapolis Central High School as part of a nationwide desegregation program in the 1970s. Paul excelled in football and track at Central, achieving all-conference awards in each discipline, as well as all-state in choir. After a stellar athletic career at Central, highlighted by winning the Honeywell Scholar Athlete award for Minneapolis, Paul earned a scholarship to the University of California for football. Paul played and lettered in football all four years at Cal and was playing linebacker for the Golden Bears when they beat Stanford in the infamous 5 lateral finish, forever known as "The Play" in 1982. Although Paul no longer pursued his passion for singing, he did follow his dreams in theater at Cal and after a brief stint playing linebacker for the British Columbia Lions in the CFL, Paul headed to Hollywood to try to break into movies and television. In movies, Paul acted with Mickey Rourke, Lea Thompson, Victoria Jackson, Sandra Bernhard and Andrew Dice Clay. But the work was too spotty, so Paul reluctantly put movies and television on hold and moved back to Minnesota to work with his brother, David, to open a string of Popeye's Chicken franchises in Minneapolis and St Paul. The Minneapolis store became the number one Popeye's franchise in the nation and remained among the top 5% of franchises for the past 20 years. When Paul met Julie, a veterinarian, he began courting her by borrowing his mother's cat as a means to draw closer to her. Paul knew Jules was someone he wanted to spend a lifetime with. Performing a script he wrote, Paul proposed at The Old Log Theater. Once married, they were blessed with three children, Sophia, Jackson and Isabella who were all truly the apple of their father's eye. The family loved to travel, domestic and internationally, but fell in love with the Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, Virginia. The couple would try to make it there twice a year to swim in the hot springs, hike, shoot clays and ride horses. Their family has many cherished memories at the resort. When Paul's health began to decline, the couple sought answers from doctors and clinics across the country. Due to Paul's physical and mental strength, a host of therapies were attempted, including multiple surgeries in the final months of his life. Paul never lost his humanity, his hope or his sense of humor even in the face of horrible odds that he would ever make a full recovery. He was still taking the kids on snowmobile rides this winter, as well as tractor and boat rides this spring. When the Lord took Paul home on Monday night, the 23rd of June, he was surrounded by his loving wife and children, along with his parents and parents-in-law. His oldest daughter, Sophia, held his hand as Heaven's gates opened wide. He is mourned by them, his brothers Jon, David, and Peter, as well as hundreds of life-long friends. Paul's faith was strong and he never doubted where he would spend eternity. Although we miss him dearly, we know he is freed, surrounded by love in the presence of GOD.

It is written in John 14:6, "I am the Way, the TRUTH and the Life."; and in John 8:32, "You will know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH will set you free." A Celebration of Paul's life will take place at 1:30 pm Thursday, July 3rd at Mendakota Country Club 2075 Mendakota Drive, Mendota Heights, MN 55120 Family will greet friends one hour prior to service.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Julie Najarian for an educational fund for the children.

Funeral Home: Mattson Funeral Home 343 North Shore Drive Forest Lake, MN US 55025

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Previous Events

Visitation
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Service
Thursday, July 3, 2014

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