Rockville community mourns longtime bakery owner who was hit and killed

A family and community are mourning the loss of a man who put smiles on people’s faces for nearly 40 years.

Harry Kazanjian was best known for the cakes and other sweets he baked at Les Delices French Bakery, which he owned in Rockville.

He was killed earlier this month when he was struck by a driver as he walked across Norbeck Road. News4 talked with relatives and friends about his legacy and the many lives he touched.

Aline Kazanjian, his daughter, said it’s been touching to read messages from longtime customers.

“Customers have mentioned how kind he was to them. He always made them feel seen. They appreciated his meticulous nature, his passion for his work, integrity for the ingredients he used,” she said.

Kazanjian was “wise, smart, witty, generous, and amazingly kind,” friend and customer Ricardo Carvajal said.

Kazanjian and his wife opened the bakery on Gude Drive 38 years ago. His daughter grew up in the bakery and said it was a labor of love for her father and the family.

“He did people’s wedding cakes and then, years later, did their children’s wedding cakes,” she said.

He learned his craft by going to New York City and working under master chefs for free, she said. He read books on cooking and baking and did an apprenticeship at Fauchon in Paris.

Aline Kazanjian and her husband plan to carry on with the business and try to keep her father’s dream alive.

“My husband and I are stepping in to lead the business in the next chapter right now. And we’re going to do our best to preserve his legacy and what he meant to this community and to still be a part of those holidays and traditions,” she said.

She said her dad had so much he still wanted to do.

“What I think I’ll miss most is, he always had a to-do list of, ‘Oh, one day I want to make this, or this lychee combination or this exotic fruit,’ and I think I’m going to miss hearing of all the things that he wanted to make and wanted to do that we never got to try,” she said through tears.

Montgomery County police continue to investigate the crash. The driver who struck Kazanjian stayed on the scene and called 911. The family asks anyone who might have seen the crash on March 1 at Norbeck and Avery roads to call police.