A bill to name a post office in Glendale for former U.S. Navy Secretary Paul Ignatius, a son of one of the first Armenian families to settle in the city, was approved by the House of Representatives Monday in a unanimous vote.
The bill would designate the post office at 6444 San Fernando Road as the “Paul Ignatius Post Office” after the 103-year-old, who — when he was Navy secretary under President Lyndon Johnson from 1967-69 — was the highest-ranking Armenian American in the U.S. government.
“In Glendale, he has been a pillar of the community, a mentor and a source of inspiration for many, especially the Armenian community who he has encouraged to follow him into public service,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, who introduced the bill, said on the House floor before the vote.
“His commitment to education, civic engagement and cultural preservation has profoundly impacted the Armenian-American community and the broader public. He has worked to promote understanding, tolerance and unity, reflecting the values that make our community strong and vibrant.”
Ignatius worked at the Glendale Post Office as a temporary clerk when he was a college student.
Ignatius was born on Nov. 11, 1920, in Glendale. His family was one of the earliest Armenian families to have settled there, in 1911. Glendale now has the second-largest Armenian population of any U.S. city, behind only Los Angeles.
Ignatius graduated from USC in 1942, enlisted in the Navy and was commissioned as an officer after beginning a master’s program at the Harvard Business School.
He was a lieutenant in the Navy during World War II, principally as an aviation ordnance officer aboard the escort aircraft carrier USS Manila Bay in the Pacific Theater, including participating in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the war’s largest naval battle.
Ignatius was assistant secretary of the Army (installations and logistics), from 1961-64; under secretary of the Army in 1964; assistant secretary of defense (installations and logistics) from 1964-1967; and U.S. Navy secretary from 1967-69.
In 2019, the Navy commissioned a destroyer, the USS Paul Ignatius, in his honor.
Ignatius has also been active in Armenian issues in California — including as a member of the USC Dornsife Institute of Armenian Studies National Honorary Council, and as a supporter of the Armenian American Museum.
In addition, he was president of the Washington Post for two years and president of the Air Transport Association for 15 years.