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FAMILY CELEBRATES 102ND BIRTHDAY OF WEYMOUTH ARMENIAN GENOCIDE SURVIVOR.
By Sue Scheible
Wicked Local
http://www.wickedlocal.com/weymouth/topstories/x1014037553/Aremnian-genocide-survivor-turns-102-in-Weymouth#axzz1oMjxHHiW
March 5 2012
MA
WEYMOUTH - The photo card that Asdghig "Starrie" Alemian's children
gave family and friends for her 102nd birthday celebration this weekend
shows a bold-looking young woman sitting in a tree in 1931 in Detroit.
"She has a wonderfully spirited look," her son Alan noted Sunday.
At age 21, Alemian had already experienced far more heartache and
challenges than most ever imagine. She was a survivor of the 1915
Armenian genocide, after losing both parents. She made a new start
in this country when an uncle in Weymouth brought her here from a
Syrian orphanage.
Alemian turned 102 on Thursday and as 70 people gathered to honor
her long life and her courage, she was in her element.
"She's in party mode and enjoying every minute of it," her daughter
Claire Alemian said at the home they share.
With a radiant smile and finely chiseled features, "Starrie" Alemian
proclaimed, "I have no secret!" and burst into a laugh, when asked
"the longevity question" for possibly the 102nd time in the past two
days. Then she added, "I never wore makeup, not even at my wedding!"
On Saturday, she celebrated for five hours at The Red Parrot in Hull
with five generations, good food, Armenian music and dancing. Although
she doesn't get up and dance anymore, she clapped up a storm.
Sunday morning brought more than 40 family members to her son's house
for breakfast.
"Our mother has always been a very courageous person who had a real
spirit of determination," Alan Alemian said.
In Armenian, her name is a term of endearment meaning "Little Star."
Alemian still votes in every election and will be interviewed by
the Weymouth Historical Society. She has been active in the Armenian
community in Watertown, and in 2007 she was honored at a State House
ceremony recognizing victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
Her memory remains sharp for the details of those tragic early years,
and once she starts talking, the recollections pour forth. But for
Alemian and her family, it is the other aspects of her life that she
now likes to focus on.
That includes her seven children, five still living, that she and her
late husband, Sarkis, raised while running Alemian's Delicatessen in
Jackson Square and then Alemian's Package Store. Her immense pride
in 12 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and three great-great-
grandchildren. A lifetime of hard work and skills, including the
needlepoint she learned to do in the Syrian orphanage. You can see
the delicate handiwork in the family home nearby.
While she no longer lives there, decades of family photos fill the
rooms, along with the family piano her daughter Sylvia played. Alemian
lives across the street with her daughter Claire and she has constant
company. She remains strong and well in the neighborhood where she
created her new life in this country.
In 1922, an uncle, Garabed, brought her to Weymouth and she has lived
there ever since, except for two years with cousins in Worcester.
At age 16, four years after arriving, she married an Armenian from
her hometown, Sarkis Alemian, and they set their sights on building
their new life together, working long hours at a factory and then at
their family businesses.
Within 10 years, they bought their first house and as the years went
by, they invested in real estate, kept the family close by and welcomed
other Armenians.
"My mother raised so many children other than her own," Claire
Alemian said.
Her husband died in 1982 at age 82, and her two oldest sons, Edward
Jr. and Haig, died in their late 30s. Her other five - Sylvia, Alan,
Susan, Stephan and Claire - remain nearby.
"My mother has a strong sense of Armenia identity," Alan Alemian said,
"but she loves this country and thinks of it as her home. It gave
her safe haven."
By Sue Scheible
Wicked Local
http://www.wickedlocal.com/weymouth/topstories/x1014037553/Aremnian-genocide-survivor-turns-102-in-Weymouth#axzz1oMjxHHiW
March 5 2012
MA
WEYMOUTH - The photo card that Asdghig "Starrie" Alemian's children
gave family and friends for her 102nd birthday celebration this weekend
shows a bold-looking young woman sitting in a tree in 1931 in Detroit.
"She has a wonderfully spirited look," her son Alan noted Sunday.
At age 21, Alemian had already experienced far more heartache and
challenges than most ever imagine. She was a survivor of the 1915
Armenian genocide, after losing both parents. She made a new start
in this country when an uncle in Weymouth brought her here from a
Syrian orphanage.
Alemian turned 102 on Thursday and as 70 people gathered to honor
her long life and her courage, she was in her element.
"She's in party mode and enjoying every minute of it," her daughter
Claire Alemian said at the home they share.
With a radiant smile and finely chiseled features, "Starrie" Alemian
proclaimed, "I have no secret!" and burst into a laugh, when asked
"the longevity question" for possibly the 102nd time in the past two
days. Then she added, "I never wore makeup, not even at my wedding!"
On Saturday, she celebrated for five hours at The Red Parrot in Hull
with five generations, good food, Armenian music and dancing. Although
she doesn't get up and dance anymore, she clapped up a storm.
Sunday morning brought more than 40 family members to her son's house
for breakfast.
"Our mother has always been a very courageous person who had a real
spirit of determination," Alan Alemian said.
In Armenian, her name is a term of endearment meaning "Little Star."
Alemian still votes in every election and will be interviewed by
the Weymouth Historical Society. She has been active in the Armenian
community in Watertown, and in 2007 she was honored at a State House
ceremony recognizing victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide.
Her memory remains sharp for the details of those tragic early years,
and once she starts talking, the recollections pour forth. But for
Alemian and her family, it is the other aspects of her life that she
now likes to focus on.
That includes her seven children, five still living, that she and her
late husband, Sarkis, raised while running Alemian's Delicatessen in
Jackson Square and then Alemian's Package Store. Her immense pride
in 12 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and three great-great-
grandchildren. A lifetime of hard work and skills, including the
needlepoint she learned to do in the Syrian orphanage. You can see
the delicate handiwork in the family home nearby.
While she no longer lives there, decades of family photos fill the
rooms, along with the family piano her daughter Sylvia played. Alemian
lives across the street with her daughter Claire and she has constant
company. She remains strong and well in the neighborhood where she
created her new life in this country.
In 1922, an uncle, Garabed, brought her to Weymouth and she has lived
there ever since, except for two years with cousins in Worcester.
At age 16, four years after arriving, she married an Armenian from
her hometown, Sarkis Alemian, and they set their sights on building
their new life together, working long hours at a factory and then at
their family businesses.
Within 10 years, they bought their first house and as the years went
by, they invested in real estate, kept the family close by and welcomed
other Armenians.
"My mother raised so many children other than her own," Claire
Alemian said.
Her husband died in 1982 at age 82, and her two oldest sons, Edward
Jr. and Haig, died in their late 30s. Her other five - Sylvia, Alan,
Susan, Stephan and Claire - remain nearby.
"My mother has a strong sense of Armenia identity," Alan Alemian said,
"but she loves this country and thinks of it as her home. It gave
her safe haven."