Fresno Bee, CA
Feb 15 2007

Rancher Kandarian put muscle into the YMCA

By Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee02/15/07 04:02:47

Bert "Buck" Kandarian loved pumping weights so much that he made sure
the Fresno YMCA got its own, and he became a state champion in the
process.

Mr. Kandarian, the No. 1 California competitor in Olympic lifts for
1941, had suffered heart disease for several years and underwent
surgery in 2001. He died Saturday at 89.

He was born in Fresno and learned ranching skills from his parents,
Bagdasar and Asnev Kandarian, who in turn had learned from their
parents in Armenia, said Mr. Kandarian’s wife, Donna, and their
daughter, Terry Hunter.

Mr. Kandarian tried several times to enter the armed forces during
World War II, but a ruptured eardrum kept him out. This especially
troubled him once his younger brother, Earl, fought in the Battle of
the Bulge. Mr. Kandarian got a job on the San Francisco docks,
figuring he could help the war effort that way.

Returning to Fresno, he found no adequate weights at the YMCA.

He began equipping it piece by piece.

Mr. Kandarian competed in the Masters Handball Tournament, and threw
barbecues for competitors on his ranch at Willow and Jensen avenues.
The Kandarians raised calves and shoats, young weaned pigs, and grew
crenshaw and watermelons.

Mr. Kandarian was distressed one day to hear the late, ever-popular
radio personality Al Radka tell his local audience that watermelons
"just don’t taste like they used to," Donna Kandarian recalled:

"Buck and his brother, Say, got together and put two melons in a
taxi. They sent them to Al. Al came out the next day with a
watermelon under his left arm and a machine gun under his right. He
said on the radio, ‘I want you to know that what I said about melons
was wrong.’ It was live stuff in those days. Buck got a big kick out
of that."

A magazine feature on Charles Atlas started Mr. Kandarian on his
muscles mission. He helped boys and young men at the Y and came to
know the late Harold Zinkin, Mr. California of 1941.

Fresno lawyer Paul Caprioglio, a Central Valley YMCA board member,
and Fresno builder Mitch Covington praised Mr. Kandarian for the
guidance he gave them at the Y.

"He not only told you but showed you. He had great guns," Caprioglio
said, referring to Mr. Kandarian’s muscular arms.

Mr. Kandarian also worked with Covington before he became a Fresno
builder.

"He was my mentor for many years," Covington said. "He taught me
handball. We played doubles, young guy and old guy."

Mr. Kandarian spent many hours teaching Covington techniques that
made Mr. Kandarian Pacific Coast weightlifting champion.

Covington got to see Mr. Kandarian four months ago as his health
declined.

"He was in good spirits, but he was mad and embarrassed that it was
hard to stand and walk," Covington said. "He was always very, very
physical. He used to throw hay bales all over the place."

Services are pending. The family requests that any remembrance be
sent to the Central Valley YMCA, 1408 N St., Fresno, CA 93721.