Rich Abajian, 62, general manager and co-owner of Findlay Toyota, passed away Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016, at his home in Henderson, of natural causes. Rich was a native of Walla Walla, Wash. He played football for two years at Walla Walla Community College. He then played football at the University of Nevada in Reno and graduated in 1975, with a degree in education. He moved to Las Vegas, and became an assistant football coach at UNLV from 1977 to 1981. He joined Findlay Automotive in 1983, as a salesman at Findlay Oldsmobile. He advanced through several management positions at Findlay Oldsmobile before being named general manager at Saturn of West Sahara in 1990. Under Rich's guidance, Saturn of West Sahara became the top volume Saturn dealer in the nation for four consecutive years from 1992 to 1995. In 1996, he became the Operations Manager for Findlay Automotive and then, in 1998, he became a partner and general manager of Findlay Toyota in Henderson. Rich has led the success of Findlay Toyota for the past 18 years and the dealership has become one of the top Toyota dealerships in the nation. The dealership has been awarded the coveted Toyota President's Cabinet Award which is only bestowed on the top 12 Toyota dealerships in the nation. In his 33 years with Findlay Automotive, Rich has been a coach and mentor to thousands of employees and many of them advanced to very successful careers in management positions in the company's 28 dealerships. Rich has been an ardent supporter of charities and community events in the Las Vegas area for many years. He also was a big supporter of UNLV athletics, especially the football program. In 1997, he founded the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame to recognize significant achievements by people in Southern Nevada in all areas of sports. The organization is a non-profit that raises funds to support local youth athletics. In 2008, Rich was inducted into the Southern Nevada Sports Hall of Fame to honor his years as a coach and his tireless support of UNLV and local youth sports programs. Rich was also a member of the Las Vegas Bowl committee and a board member for After School All Stars. Rich had many talents. He was an accomplished motivational speaker and was sought out to speak to many companies and sports teams. He was also a tremendous athlete. Besides being an outstanding defensive back in college, he was a world class handball player. He ran marathons and he worked out nearly every day of his adult life. But most of all, Rich was an outstanding coach, motivator and leader for all who knew him. He was both extremely competitive and also very compassionate. He looked for the best in everyone and had a knack for drawing that out and helping people achieve success. Rich was preceded in death by his parents, John and Mary Lou Abajian. He is survived by the love of his life, his wife, Jo Ann; son, Bruce Schneider; grandchildren, Kennady, Noah and Micah Schneider; brothers, Jim (Rhonda) Abajian and Scott (Mary) Abajian; and sister, Kelly (Pat) Welch.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, at the South Point Arena, 9777 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations may be made to the Rich Abajian Leadership Scholarship at the Southern Nevada Hall of Fame, 4141 Meadows Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89107.