Haig Patigian was born on January 22, 1876, in Van, Ottoman Empire (now Turkey).

His father Avedis was a photographer, and he was accused by the Turkish government of acts of espionage and religious treason, resulting in the family needing to flee.

[5] The Owl Shrine became the centerpiece of the Cremation of Care ceremony at the Bohemian Grove in 1929.

[7] They lived in a house in at the corner of Hyde and Francisco Streets in the Russian Hill neighborhood.

Patigian died at age 74 on September 19, 1950, at Stanford University Hospital in San Francisco, California.