Dora H. Garabedian

Dora H. Garabedian, of East Hartford, passed away on Monday, October 18, 2010 at Hartford Hospital. Dora leaves her devoted husband Haige of 62 years. Born in Somerville, Mass. on December 5, 1922, she was the daughter of the late Harootune and Angele Berberian. Upon graduating from Watertown High School Mass. she performed office clerical duties for the Boston-based Reo Motors, Inc. for a number of years before meeting her future husband Haige Garabedian who at the time was an undergraduate student at Boston University. They subsequently married on December 21, 1947 and established residency in East Hartford where they raised a family of a son and two daughters. For seventeen years Dora worked for the State of Connecticut's Bureau of Collection Services and in 1981 the Bureau conferred its Service Award upon her in recognition of her "Outstanding Achievement as the Clerk of the Year." Afflicted with MS, which impaired her mobility, she made the best of her situation with a minimum of complaints as she went about her involvement in church and Armenian community activities. An ardent parishioner of St. George Armenian Church she served a number of offices as a member of the Womens Guild. The Church conferred its Outstanding Service Award upon her in 1989 for her "tireless efforts to serve the church; for always being available when called upon; for always volunteering when needed and for heeding Christ's call to serve." When the Connecticut & Western Massachusetts chapter of the Knights of Vartan fraternal organization's auxiliary—the Daughters of Vartan, was instituted in 1973 its Grand Council appointed her to be the first Dirouhi of Nairi Otyag. She cherished her involvement in the organization's endeavors and continued her relationship for many years thereafter. Travelling was an avocation from which she derived much pleasure. Trips abroad included: Armenia, Greece, Russia, Egypt, Hawaii, Jerusalem, Hong Kong and a trip to China where she observed at firsthand the student uprising which took place in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Saturday, June 3, 1989. The memory of the violence that occurred that day was tempered by her being only one of a few fellow travelers who ventured forth the next day to walk the Great Wall of China. In addition to her husband, Dora leaves a son Thomas J. Garabedian and his wife Dora Verne, of Hopkinton, Mass.; daughter Andrea Karanian and her husband Robert, of Avon, Conn.; daughter Audrey, of East Hartford, Conn.; six beloved grandchildren—Deran and his wife Kate, Berj and Gregory Garabedian; Elyssa, Justine and Jarod Karanian; her sisters—Mary and her husband Richard Humber, of Woburn, Mass., Emma and her husband Sarkis Toomajian, of Winchester, Mass., as well as several nieces and nephews. Calling hours at Erickson-Hansen, 411 South Main St., New Britain, will be on Friday, October 22nd from 4 to 8 p.m. Funeral services will be held the following day at 11 a.m. at St. George Armenian Church, 22 White Street, Hartford, followed by rites of committal at Fairview Cemetery in New Britain. Contributions in her memory may be directed to either: St. George Armenian Church, 22 White Street, Hartford, CT 06114, or to the NGO program in Armenia—MER DOON, OUR HOME, INC. c/o Julie Ashekian, 84 Ellsworth Blvd., Kensington, CT 06037.