Setta Kananjian of Waltham, March 22, 2026. Beloved wife of the late Nishan Tuysuzian. Devoted mother of Vahe Tuysuzian, Tsolig Chamlian, the late Dzovig Hajian and the late Shaghig Palanjian.
Cherished grandmother of Chris, Eileen, Vatche, Vana, Sevag, Talar, Arli, and Pateil. Adored great grandmother of Remy, Lia, Wesley, Anna, Tro, Nara, Liana, Sevana, Liana, and Mateo. Loving aunt of Ara Surmenian and Dikran Meguerditchian.
Funeral service at Saint Stephen’s Armenian Church, 38 Elton Avenue, Watertown on Thursday, March 26 at 11:00 a.m. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Visiting hours will be held at church on Thursday morning from 10 – 11 a.m. immediately prior to the funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Saint Stephen’s Armenian Church or Hamazkayin Parsegh Gananchian University in Beirut, Lebanon Click Here. Interment at Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.
Seta Gananchian Tuysuzian was born to Kenar and renowned composer-conductor Parsegh Gananchian in Cyprus on November 19th, 1926. Though she lost her birth mother at the young age of two, her father remarried to Kristine Calfaian whom Seta adored, known to her loved ones as Mami.
At 17 years old she began work for a daily publication Lorient Lejoure in Beirut Lebanon helping her family as her father's eyesight weakened. The following year she married Nishan Tuysuzian from Allepo, Syria. Together they had four children: Dzovig (married to Jack Hajian), Vahe (married to Noushig Saatdjian), Tsolig (married to Ara Chamlian), and Shaghig (married to Jack Palanjian). A dedicated and devoted daughter, sister to Aida & Rita, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, she was full of love and generosity.
Seta and Nishan's home became an "Agoump", a gathering place after Homenetmen or Gusaktsagan meetings. With a moment's notice Seta would lay out a feast that was both appealing to the eye and delicious, taking pride in the artistic presentation of her food. "I do not eat to live, I live to eat" she would say.
Even after her husband's passing, her home in Beirut was always open to Hamazkayin's traveling dignitaries and artists. She looked forward to hosting at least two annual gastronomic events: the Mitchnink Open House and her November extravaganza celebrating all her Scorpio born friends with a cake made in the image of a scorpion.
In addition to being a preeminent hostess, Seta was a dedicated volunteer. She was an active member in the Lebanese Red Cross from 1975-1992, the Armenian Relief Society from 1992-2006, and the Hamazkayin Armenian Cultural and Educational Association from 1961-2015. For ten years she worked as a volunteer in the blood lab at the American University of Beirut and at the Boulghourdijian Doctor's Clinic in Bourg Hamoud.
Seta was brave and adventurous in her volunteer work. During the Lebanese Civil War in the late 1970's she would travel with the Red Cross to the Palestinian refugee camps dispensing much needed medications to a devastated population. And at a time where few would have dared or have been successful, she traveled alone to Lisbon identifying and bringing home to Lebanon the charred bodies of five Armenian young heros. A hero in her own right, she never gave up. Even after immigrating to the United States in 2015, at the age of 90 she volunteered at Mount Auburn Hospital in the medical records department!
Finally, more than any other endeavor, her greatest passion and mission in life was promoting her father Parsegh Gananchian's work and legacy. Even until the months before her passing she would call Garbis Zerdelian or Zaven Torikian to suggest publications in the Hayrenik about his work, which they often kindly obliged.
Seta's steadfast and determined personality was with her always. Resilient, determined, and resourceful, she was a force who will always be remembered.