Zaghik Gevorkian (Mehrabi), born in Azna, Iran of Armenian heritage on January 28, 1932, peacefully passed away on December 14, 2020.
She married her husband Albert Gevorkian on June 28, 1955 and gave birth to two children, her son Vartan and her daughter Anno in 1956 and 1957 respectively. Two days before she gave birth to her youngest child, Allen, in 1966, Zaghik lost her husband tragically in a car crash.
Zaghik managed during this time of grief with the help of her family and friends to assume the roles of mother, father, and provider to her three young children. To make ends meet, she took over the management of her husband’s blacksmith workshop in Tehran, Iran, which operates and is managed by her nephew to this day.
With the help of her support system, she held her family together while methodically planning their future emigration to the United States. In 1976, her son Allen, followed by her daughter Anno in 1977, arrived in the United States, and Zaghik and her son Vartan planned to join them at a later time. However, this plan was delayed by the tragic death of Vartan, 21, in 1977, and the subsequent social and political turmoil starting with the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Over the years of separation from her family, Zaghik was comforted to know that her daughter, Anno, was married to an honorable, loving provider and husband, Hoosik Gregorian, in America, while her son, Allen was safely in America with her sister, Tagoosh and brother-in-law Hrach. Through the help of her nieces in Germany and friends/family in Kuwait, Australia, Iran, and the U.S., she managed both the business and the complex process of emigrating from Iran. Finally, in 1989, Zaghik succeeded in immigrating to the United States, where she reunited with her family and settled in the same two-family house with her sister and brother-in-law in Belmont, MA.
Shortly after her arrival in the U.S., with her nurturing nature, her strong will, and her desire to be an active self-provider, Zaghik helped care for children of working parents in the Armenian community. Through her devotion to these children and their families, she was able to sustain herself through word of mouth for over fifteen years. The affection these children and their families had for her was so strong that she became a member of their families and played the role of a third grandmother. To this day, these now adult children and families keep in touch and now weep for her openly and genuinely.
Zaghik was an extremely active member and contributor to the Armenian community. She had a deep spiritual reservoir that she shared with her church, to the St. Stephen’s Ladies Guild, and to the Armenian Relief Society, where she made everyone feel cherished. She was able to forge intensely loyal friendships and contributed her time to several church bazaars and ARS events - unselfishly, with humility, and with great joy.
Though she faced great tragedy in her life, her family thrived and grew. Her daughter Anno and son-in-law Hoosik Gregorian gave Zaghik two precious granddaughters, Alina and Gina. Later Allen and daughter-in-law Sona Dulgarian, gave her three more beautiful grandchildren, Datev, Tsoline, and Narineh. Her granddaughter, Alina, married Brad Farberman, and they gave her yet another life’s trophy for longevity, a great grandson, Avo Matan.
It was her nature to cherish others, not to complain even if she had cause, and to use but one example of her love, she was famous for her “nazooks” (a traditional Armenian cookie that requires an arduous process of overnight baking) which she would offer with pleasure to those around her. Despite the fact that she freely shared her recipe with others, no one ever quite baked them with the same craved taste because her special ingredient was indeed love. From her close friends and family to the person delivering the heating oil for her on a snowy New England evening, everyone she came in contact with received the same token of her love and appreciation.
You only had to meet her once to never forget her, to feel her love, her dignity, and to know how much she cherished you as a person or as a friend of her family. Were the world to have more Zaghik Gevorkians, it would be richer in life and spirit. To be cherished and know it is the greatest of all human gifts, hundreds mourn her loss and will continue to do so for years to come.
As if to signify the depth of her bond with her sister, Tagoosh and her brother-in-law, Hrach, she died only a week after they did – in the same hospital ward. They were truly inseparable.
Zaghik Gevorkian was the beloved wife of the late Albert Gevorkian, devoted mother of Anno and her husband Hoosik Gregorian, Allen and his wife Sona Gevorkian, and the late Vartan Gevorkian, loving grandmother of Alina Gregorian and her husband Brad Farberman, Gina Gregorian, Datev, Tsoline, and Narineh Gevorkian, and cherished great-grandmother to Avo Farberman.
She is survived by her loving brother Thomas Mehrabi. She was also predeceased by her late sisters Varter, Nakhshun, Tagoosh, and by her late brother Almas Mehrabi. Zaghik was a loving and caring aunt to many loving nieces and nephews and to many loving great nieces and great nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Saint Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 38 Elton Avenue, Watertown, MA 02472 or Armenian Relief Society of Eastern US, Inc., 80 Bigelow Avenue, Watertown, MA 02472