Of Armenian descent, John Kizirian was born in Whitinsville, Massachusetts on April 4, 1928, to a family of Armenian immigrants. His mother Maritza and father Serop were born in Kharpert, Ottoman Empire. Kizirian's father, through a sponsorship by his uncle Garabed Kizirboghosian (Kizirboghosian would later be changed to Kizirian) who already lived in Whitinsville, Massachusetts, arrived in the United States in 1914. Kizirian's mother, along with her family emigrated to Cuba in order to seek an opportunity to move to the United States. By an arrangement, Kizirian's father, who was already a U.S. citizen, went to Cuba in 1927, met Kizirian's mother, married her and brought her to Whitinsville. Prior to the marriage, Kizirian's father was a baker, but after the marriage, he went to work for the Whitin Machine Works as a laborer where he worked for 45 years. Kizirian's mother was a housewife. He had two sisters, Margaret and Ani.
