Agnes B. Karanian

Agnes B. Karanian, 97, of New Britain, Connecticut passed away on June 15, 2021.

Agnes was born in 1924 in Pawtucket, RI, to Osgean and Houstian Barsoian. Her parents were both from the Sebastia region of Armenia, and were survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Agnes was their first-born child in the US.

Agnes was predeceased by her husband Henry Zareh Karanian who passed away on October 28, 2008. Agnes and Henry were happily married for 60 years and lived almost all of their married lives in New Britain.

Agnes was a proud member of Connecticut’s Armenian-American community. She was a member of the Ladies’ Guild of St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church in New Britain, and she served as a national delegate to the Convention of the Armenian Church. She served as President of the New Britain Chapter of the Armenian Relief Society, a humanitarian organization, and she also taught Armenian history to children at the local Saturday Armenian School.

Agnes is survived by her four sons. Robert and daughter-in-law Andrea of Avon, William and daughter-in-law Denise of Kensington, Philip and daughter-in-law Nancy of West Hartford, and Matthew of Pasadena, Calif. Agnes also leaves her loving grandchildren: Elyssa Karanian Hall, Justine and Jarod; Allana; Caroline, Colleen, Genevieve; and great granddaughter, Violet Hall. Additionally, she leaves her dear Godchildren Carolyn, Charlene, and Jennifer, and her many cousins, nieces, and nephews.  Agnes was predeceased by her brothers, Harry Barsoian, Matthew Barsoian and Ernest Yeghian, and by her sister Lucy Balemian -- all from Pawtucket.

Everyone who knew Agnes loved her and became endeared to her because of Agnes’s friendly disposition and lively spirit. Agnes’s many friends in Connecticut and Rhode Island included her dearest friend Adrienne Dodakian of Old Lyme, and the late Liz Haroian of New Britain, and her many friends from St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church and from The Armenian Church of the Holy Resurrection, both in New Britain.

Agnes enjoyed cooking and baking, and often baked chooreg and simit cookies, or cooked dolma or manti or other Armenian delicacies, using old Armenian recipes that had been passed down to her from her mother, or shared with her by her many friends. Despite her expertise in baking and cooking, the dessert treat that Agnes professed to enjoy the most was coffee-flavored ice cream.

She enjoyed spending summers at the beach in Old Lyme, and she sometimes even ventured into the water, briefly. She loved music. She also loved dancing. And so she looked forward to the summer picnics of the Armenian churches of New Britain, Conn., of Watertown, Mass., and of Providence, RI, where there was an abundance of Armenian music and where she could participate in Armenian line-dancing with her friends and family from those communities.

Calling hours will be held from 9:30 am to 10:30 am on Saturday, June 19, 2021, at the sanctuary of St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 167 Tremont Street, New Britain, Conn. The funeral service will begin at 11 am, also at St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church.

St. Stephen’s is the church at which, in 1948, Agnes and Henry were married. This is also the same church at which Agnes and Henry baptized each of their four sons. The funeral will be followed by a private burial service.

Agnes’s family is thankful to the doctors and nurses at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, Conn., for the kindness and compassionate care they provided to Agnes.

In lieu of flowers, Agnes has expressed the wish that donations instead be made to one of more of the following: The Armenia Tree Project, 400 West Cummings Park, Suite 3900, Woburn, Mass. 01801; The Armenian Relief Society, 80 Bigelow Ave., Watertown, Mass. 02472; and St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 167 Tremont Street, New Britain, Conn.