John Amin

Obituary For John Amin

On Friday, November 18, 2022, John G. Amin passed away at the Amin Family home, in his sleep, just as he always said was the way he wanted to die.

He was a lifelong businessman, independent, organized and used to being in charge even till his death. He had all business affairs tended to from his own burial expenses and final wishes to his finances.

On his last day he had tome with his beloved youngest brother, Carl, playing cards sharing time together and winning the card game!

John was the eldest remaining brother of Carl M. Amin, having been preceded in death by his parents, Fred G. and Labebe (Merhege) Amin, and his six other siblings: Joe, Joan, Florence, Fred, Martha, and George.

He was born in Glendale, AZ, at the time, number four, in a family that would grow to have 8 children.

He served in the United States Army during the Korean War and returned home to find he had a baby brother 23 years younger than him.

The Amin Family clothing store was the family business begun by his father and maintained its downtown location by the brothers for 69 years finally closing its doors in 2001. The brothers had branched out into the furniture and appliance business. In total the Amin family businesses served the local community for 87 years.

Their father was an honest hardworking businessman in an era where the family centered on Amin’s Clothing store.

In a small town it was not unusual for their dad and later the Amin brothers to get a call late at night that someone needing to have clothes for a funeral etc and one would go open the store to help them; and let them charge it if needed.

His dad even gave away clothes if needed. When we had Carrie Tingley Childrens Hospital, every Easter he gave every child a brand-new outfit head to toe.

That kind of dedication and service extended many years later into service from the appliance store, with nighttime calls that someone’s freezer broke and needed help, or their food would spoil. They went to help whether it was in town or out to a ranch.

The brothers all worked 6 days a week, taking only Sunday off.

All the Amin brothers worked at the clothing store from an early age. Carl started out around age nine dusting shoe boxes until, with manly pride, he got a big promotion to “cleaning the toilets”!

Carl’s children Heidi and David, both took naps in the she department at times. They proudly started helping at the store as very young children. They learned to make to make bows for packages and would help clean the dressing room mirrors…from their height on down, meaning the mirrors were well cleaned for about three feet! As they got older, David was assigned manly duties as his father and uncles before him: “Cleaning the toilets”.

As a teen Heidi started out washing the store front windows until her doing so became too big a distraction with downtowners helping her. It was like a scene out of Tom Sawyer. After a one-day career washing front windows, she worked in the clothing store and the annex in her summers. John was always more like a dad to Carl and grandparent to our children.

John loved to grow his annual vegetable gardens and work outdoors. After work for decades the brothers would all go out for a beer together. John, at various times, was a member of the VFW, American Legion, and Charter Member of the Moose Lodge.

MANY A GREAT STORY STARTED WITH THE WORDS: “WE HAD A FEW BEERS AND…”.

He loved to dance and for many years was quite the man about town even in his 70’s and 80’s.

Again, following tradition of Amin men work ethics, our son David worked at the furniture store from middle school on. Unbeknownst to his mother, ME, for years, before getting a driver’s license he rapidly backed up and parked all the big store trucks. So, when I started out teaching him to drive in an empty parking lot one day he cautiously drove forward. I then said let’s try to reverse a little…we took off flying backwards, with precision but nearly giving me a heart attack. That’s when I heard the rest of the story.

When John decided to retire, they brought in George Amin’s stepson, George Smith, as partners with Carl. Even in retirement John could never stop working.

In his 80’s he could be seen walking from the family home to the front of the furniture store where with hat on his head and rake in hand he would pull weeds from the patch of sand in front of the store during the peak of desert heat. In later years, he would take daily routing walks and ride with his brother, George, until George passed away. Then John would love to have visits with Carl and go for a ride around different spots in town and the lake. John developed a routine pathe telling Carl the history, and stories of various places.

John was well loved and visited by many lifelong friends, family and his beloved nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews. His nieces Trish and Pam, and their spouses, Steve and Dwayne, would bring his favorite meals daily as his health waned. Lifelong friends, Mick Montgomery and his wife, Susan, who is a nurse, would frequently be with him, visiting, checking his health, and if needed, to get him to the hospital. Randy Ashbaugh is John’s Godson who also frequently visited and made sure all was well.

In his last year, John needed around the clock caretakers but still maintained his “take charge attitude”. He liked to play cards and would do so for hours on end. Even his last trip to the local ER they wanted to keep him in the hospital or transfer to a larger one for a few days after a mild heart attack. He made it loudly known in no uncertain terms he was leaving! He signed all the “against medical advice forms” and had Carl bring him home.

We want to thank all the caretakers who watched John around the clock. Also with special gratitude to his caretakers, Ellie, Patty, and Bobby who were extremely dedicated, compassionate, and caring in his last days.

John was an amazing man, humble, yet independent and in charge, in a long life well-loved and well lived.

We are abundantly grateful to have had John in our lives and every life he touched. We will hold him with love, withing the sanctuary of our hearts, forever.

John is survived by his brother, Carl (BJ); nephew, David Amin (Elena); niece Heidi Tarr (Matt); nieces: Pam Bauer (Dwayne), Trish Janos (Steve), Kathy Allen, Helen Griffith (Geoff), and Martha Amin; and nephew, Michael Amin (Julie).

As per John’s wishes, he wanted no funeral service. However, if you wish to honor his memory, please make a charitable donation in his name to the local New Mexico State Veterans Home Patient Fund, 992 S. Broadway, T. or C., NM 87901, or Cancer Research Institute, 29 Broadway, Floor 4, New York, NY 10006. (This organization is developing powerful immunotherapies for ALL types of cancer.)