1987_12 Hye Sharzhoom Newspaper December 1987

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ARMENIAN   ACTION
Volume 9 No. 1     Tne newspaper of the California State University, Fresno Armenian Students      Armenian Studies Program
December 1987     Organization and Armenian Studies Program CSUF, Fresno 93740
His Holiness Vazken I
Visits Valley
The Daily Collegian
Non-profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 262
By Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Advisor
His Holiness Vazken I, Supreme Patriarch
and Catholicos of all Armenians, visited
Fresno on Tuesday, November 3,1987 at 1:00
pm. He was greeted by hundreds of valley
Armenians including a group of students from
the CSUF Armenian Students Organization.
The Catholicos was accompanied by His Grace
Archbishop Nersess Bozabalian, Chancellor of
the Holy See of Etchmiadzin, His Grace
Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, Primate of
the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church,
His Grace Archbishop Vatche Hovsepian,
Primate of the Western Diocese, Father
Navasart Gujoyan, Staff Bearer to His
Holiness and by local clergy.
Qn Tuesday night a Pontifical Divine
Liturgy was held at the St. Anthony Roman
Catholic Church in Fresno. On Wednesday a
banquet, with over 600 people in attendance,
was held in honor of the His Holiness in
Selland Arena. On Wednesday, November 4,
the Catholicos visited the Armenian
Community School of Fresno and the
California Armenian Home for the Aged.
His Holiness joins the rank of high-ranking
officials of the Armenian Church who have
visited Fresno over the past several years. The
list includes His Holiness Karekin II, the
Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia and
His Grace Archbishop Shnork Kaloustian,
Patriarch of Constantinople.
The Catholicos last visited America in
1968. On this tour of the U.S. he has planned
stops in New York, Washington, Los
Angeles, Boston, as well as Canada.
His Holiness Vazken I was born Levon
Garabed Baljian in Bucharest, Rumanian in
1906. In 1916, during World War I, his family
fled to Odessa along with thousands of other
Armenians, returning to Bucharest in 1919. He
graduated from Bucharest National University
in 1936, then entered the teaching profession
and taught in Armenian schools for fourteen
years. He was ordained a priest in 1943 and in
1948 he was elected Primate of the diocese of
Rumania. His Holiness Vazken I was elevated
to the rank of Bishop in 1951 and was
consecrated as Catholicos of All Armenians in
1955 at an enclave in Etchmiadzin, the
headquarters of the Supreme Patriarch, in
Armenia.
In his thirty two years as the Chief
Shepherd of the Armenian Church he has
traveled extensively, becoming the first
Catholicos to visit the United States in 1960.
His Holiness is fluent in Armenian, French,
Rumanian, and Turkish and he has a wide
range of interests.
Under his leadership the Seminary of
Etchmiadzin has been reorganized, churches
and ancient monasteries have been renovated
and a modern printing press established in
Etchmiadzin. The administrative structure of
See Catholicos page 6
MIRIGIAN DONATES $20,000
TO ASP ENDOWMENT FUND
HIS HOLINESS CATHOLICOS VAZKEN I
COURTESY PAUL KALINIAN
Hye Sharzhoom Staff
Mesrob K. Mirigian of Fresno donated
$20,000 to the Center for Armenian Studies
Mirigian Gallery which is to be located on the
third floor of the Leon S. Peters Business
Building.
The generous donation will also be applied
towards the fund for the establishment of an
Endowed Chair in Armenian Studies and a
second permanent position at California State
University, Fresno in Armenian Studies. Mr.
Mirigian gave a check for the amount to
CSUF President Dr. Harold H. Haak at a
ceremony in front of the new Peters Business
Building, now under construction. Also
present at the ceremony were Dean Joseph
Penbera of the School of Business, Dr.
Dickran Kouymjian, Director of the Armenian
Studies Program, andBarlow Der Mugrdechian
of the Armenian Studies Program.
Mirigian's father, Krikor, first came to the
U.S. in 1885. He settled in Whitinsville,
Mass., and worked in the mill owned by the
Whitins family after whom the town was
named. He saved his money and within a few
years had his wife Kohar brought to America.
Meanwhile Krikor attended night school to
learn English, to study the Constitution, and
to become an American citizen.
Mesrob, "Mes" as he is affectionately
known by his friends, was bom in
Whitinsville in 1898. At the age of one and a
half, the family moved to California, settling
in Selma. "Mes" attended Canal Grammar
School and the Selma Union High School.
Three months before his graduation in 1917,
the family purchased a ranch in Fowler.
However he considers himself a Selma
alumnus.
In 1917 "Mes" entered Sl Mary's College
in Moraga. World War I was to interfere with
his schooling, and made a veteran out of him.
In 1920, he married Mary Boyajian of Fresno,
daughter of Krikor and Elizabeth Boyajian.
"Mes" and Mary were married for sixty-one
years before Mary died in 1981. During then-
life together, they raised three daughters, had
nine grandchildren, were very active in farming
activities, supported community projects, and
cultivated a large circle of friends and
acquaintances.
"Mes" served on the Kings River Water
Conservation District Board for 23 years. He
and his wife were founding members of the
Armenian-American Citizen's League.
Mesrob's father, Krikor, was one of the
founders and builders (he actually did the
hammering and the sawing) of the St. Gregory
Armenian Apostolic Church in Fowler. As a
young child, "Mes" helped his father and
others during the construction of the church.
Later "Mes" also owned and operated a body
shop, Service Body Works, in Fresno.
All of "Mes" and Mary's three daughters
attended and graduated from Fresno State
college, and their nine grandchildren also
attended and graduated from Fresno State.
Krikor and Kohar Mirigian had 13
grandchildren, 11 of whom attended and
graduated from CSUF.
Photo by Jim Miller- CSUF Public Information Office
L. to R.: Dr. Joseph Penbera, Dean of the School of Business;
CSUF President Dr. Harold Haak; Mr. Mesrob K. Mirigian; and
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, ASP Director.
Sarovan Tour:
Oakland Museum
Guild Weekend
By Barlow Der Mugrdechian
Advisor
The CSUF Armenian Studies Program was
host for a group of 42 members and friends of
the Oakland Museum Association History
Guild who visited Fresno Saturday and
Sunday, October 10 and 11, 1987 as part of
the Guild's on-going series of literary figures
in California entitled for this weekend
"Saroyan, Fresno and the Armenian Community." The tour was coordinated by Marilyn
Goeller and Betsy Willcuts of the History
Guild and Dr. Dickran Kouymjian and Barlow
Der Mugrdechian of the ASP.
Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, Director of the
ASP greeted the tour participants as they
arrived on Saturday morning to begin the
weekend with a presentation on the life of
William Saroyan. They viewed a video of
Saroyan's life prepared by Fresno photographer
Paul Kalinian and then participated in a
lecture/discussion of the works of William
Saroyan led by Dr. Kouymjian, in particular
concentrating on the recently released "William
Saroyan: An Armenian Trilogy" edited by Dr.
Kouymjian and published by The Press at
CSUF. Following the spirited exchange the
participants enjoyed a delicious catered lunch
by Hampo's Deli of Fresno. The lunch took
place on the grounds of the CSUF campus.
The History Guild members were then
taken to downtown Fresno to see the
landmarks of the old Armenian community.
They visited the Armenian bakeries and were
delighted in learning about the process of
making Armenian bread. Later that evening the
group
See Tour, page 8