GEVORG HALEPLIAN
Dear mourning relatives, friends and comrades-in-arms of the cause,
We are all shocked and saddened. Untimely death has taken from us a kindred and dear soul — an unyielding fighter for the cause and a wholly devoted member of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, Ara Aharonian.
It is difficult even to imagine that at gatherings, general membership meetings or public events we shall no longer hear Ara’s sharp and resolute voice, his inspiring words and rousing calls. He was a worthy son of one of our party’s leaders, Paylak Aharonian, under whose breath he received his national-patriotic upbringing. Having been closely acquainted with and worked alongside that family, I could never have imagined that on the sad occasions of the deaths of Paylak and now of dear Ara, I would be delivering eulogies before their graves.
Ara was born in Tripoli. He received his primary education at the local Krimian-Nubarian School, and his secondary education at the AGBU Hovagimian-Manoukian School, then at the American University of Beirut. I had known Ara since my youth. We had worked together within the ADL’s Beirut Chapter. While still a student at the AGBU Hovagimian-Manoukian School in Beirut, he was already engaged in national service.
Fresh in my memories is his devoted activity within the compound of the Tekeyan School during the days of the Lebanese civil war, when we stood guard there. He would take upon himself every sacrifice to bring help to all in the heavily Armenian-populated neighbourhoods, often exposing himself to physical dangers.
The Lebanese civil war was the reason he settled on these shores in 1976. Here, in America, he completed Northridge University, choosing digital electronics as his specialty. Alongside his profession and career, and even more than these, he gave his soul, his abilities and his time to the nation and the party, often also sacrificing his family. Undeniable is Ara’s role, spanning decades, in the strengthening of the ADL’s Western United States Chapter and especially in its rejuvenation, having been the founding leader of the ADL Armenakan Youth Movement.
For many years he was an active member of the Regional Board of the ADL’s Western United States Chapter. His party-devoted activity and his political and ideological vigour elevated him to leadership positions, making him a member of the ADL Central Board. Alongside his organisational gifts, Ara Aharonian shone especially through his journalistic and party-scholarly works. He devoted himself entirely to intellectual labour. The forgotten pages of the party’s history, its heroic figures and their equally heroic deeds, he presented in full detail, with meticulousness and historical accuracy. Through the biographies of the ADL’s immortal figures, he passed on to generations numerous examples of pride and encouragement.
The fruit of Ara’s tireless quests and diligence were works forming part of the ADL’s comprehensive history — in 2001, the book “Heroic Figures of the ADL,” dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the ADL’s founding, which also appeared in translation in English and Spanish. In 2006, on the occasion of the ADL’s 85th anniversary, Aharonian’s book “The Path of the Benefactors,” Volume I, was published, and in 2014, on the occasion of the ADL’s 90th anniversary, Volume II of the same appeared. Now, at this moment, we realise how greatly Ara’s absence will be felt in this field, and we likely face the difficulty of finding a worthy successor to continue his work.
Aharonian was a committed figure in the pursuit of the Armenian Cause. For many years he led the ADL Armenian Rights Council, within the scope of whose activities he carried out important pro-Armenian work with American local bodies and with state and political figures. Within this scope, important works were the publications “The Republic of Mountainous Karabagh” and “The Challenges of the Republic of Armenia,” issued in Armenian and English.
It is with sorrow and deep pain that we bid our last farewell to our unfortunate, precious senior colleague. On this occasion we express our deepest condolences and sympathy to his spouse, Mrs. Diana, to his daughter, Rita, to his son, Alex, and to all the relatives, to the ADL Central Board, to the ADL Western United States Regional Board, to the Tekeyan Cultural Association and to the worldwide AGBU family.
May the earth rest lightly upon you, dear Ara. We shall always remember you and your rich, nation-serving activity. We shall continue the ideological path in which you believed and which you served throughout your entire conscious life.
May God illuminate your soul, dear and precious colleague.
