Gilbert Anthony ‘Tony’ Miranda, ultra-dedicated believer in the sacred mission of the Catholic Church, who, in his own words, was a Scorpio who could never walk away from a fight, died on Sunday, May 1, 2022 of complications resulting from a massive hemorrhagic stroke in Yerevan, capitol city of Armenia, the country that had been one of the great loves of his life.
Tony’s parents moved, in 1972, from Los Angeles, where he was born, to Los Alamos, N.M. He attended classes at Chamisa Elementary School and Cumbres Junior High, graduating from Los Alamos High School in the class of 1982.
He was active in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts (Troop 129 in White Rock), and played the cornet in the junior high and high school jazz bands, as well as in the Los Alamos High School marching band.
He first became interested in Armenia when he was a student at University of Southern California (USC), where, in 1986 he received a Bachelors of Science in Aerospace Engineering.
In June,1992, after working a series of aerospace engineering jobs, he made his first trip to Armenia. He returned to the United States a few years later, living in Albuquerque for a short time before moving back to Los Angeles.
In 2002 he returned to Armenia, where he spent the remainder of his life. For a few years he was employed writing computer programs for airplanes’ hydraulic brake systems. After that he coordinated various trade deals involving the region’s natural resources. He liked to work out at the gym, in training for weightlifting and bodybuilding competitions, and competed in local martial arts matches.
In 2017, he married his current wife, Liz, and spent much of his remaining years delighting in being a proud father to their two children.
He is survived by Liz and their two children Stepan and Mariam; daughter Andrea Miranda of California; daughter Anne Miranda of Washington D.C.; parents Gilbert Miranda and Sharon Tegtmeier of Los Alamos; sisters Ann Locke of Oklahoma, and Lara Dubov of Durham, England; and his younger brother Rick Miranda of Los Alamos.
A memorial service/wake was held on Thursday May 5th, attended by over one hundred Armenian friends and relatives, and some relatives from the United States. Rites were spoken by his favorite local priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
He was buried the next day, Friday May 6, 2022 in Gugark, a small village on the outskirts of Vanadzor, Armenia, where his family lived prior to moving to Yerevan, and where his wife, Liz, and her relatives are from.
Everything having gone according to his hopes and plans, he should, right about now, be travelling full speed ahead, warp factor nine… a forever-journeyer on the Starships of God, soaring the realms where phasers and photon torpedoes are no longer needed by anyone, voyaging beyond the wall of the cosmic dream with Godspeed.