Decendents of Garabed Kalpakian

9. Angagh Kalpakian (Haroutune (Harry)⁴, Hagop², Garabed¹) was born on 26 Dec 1918 in Adana, Turkey, died on 6 Aug 2009 in Newhall, CA at age 90, and was cremated in Eternal Valley, Los Angeles Country, Newhall, CA - for cremation. {FGID: 109676679}

Burial Notes: Eternal Valley, Los Angeles Country, Newhall, CA - for cremation
Ashes scattered in the ocean off the coast of Ventura, California, USA

General Notes: Dear family and friends, (Feb 18, 2005)
The Program Chairman of our local Sr. Citizens Club asked me to tell how the Depression affected me and my family. I thought you might be interested to know what I talked about. (I was limited to 5 minutes.)

My name is Angagh Kalpakian MacKellar Elwood, an Armenian born at the end of 1918 in Adana, Turkey. Adana is a port on the southern shore of Turkey, not far from the Syrian border. Things were not good for Armenians in 1921. So my mother wrote to her sister and brother-in-law in California to see if they would sponsor us so that we could come to the U.S. They did; but when the papers arrived in 1922 my mother was nine months pregnant! So we took a ship to Istambul, a large metropolitan city, where things would be better. We arrived on Thursday and my sister was born on Sunday! My father had relatives there who were in the oriental rug business; so my father learned to buy and sell oriental rugs.

We came to Venice, California, moved into a tiny house at the back of our relatives' house, and my father ran a small tobacco and candy stand on the strand of Venice Beach. Not much income. Three years later we moved to Los Angeles where my father bought a small grocery store on the corner of South San Pedro and 19th Streets. Living quarters were behind and attached to the store. We were there only about 9 months when a man came along, wanting to buy the business! My father quoted a price he was sure the man would not accept--but he did! So with that money my father bought a larger market on South Figueroa and 108th Street, with 3 separate parts: grocery, fruits and vegetables and meat. (He ran the first 2 parts.) This was early in 1928. My father ran the business alone in the mornings; Mother came and helped every afternoon; and sometimes on Saturdays I came to help. Business was good!

Also in 1928 my first husband's father had a very good job as general manager of a refrigerated warehouse. They were so well off that when his wife expressed the desire to go back to Michigan to visit relatives, they bought a brand new Willys Knight Touring Car and she drove the three children to Michigan to spend the summer! Some time later, the owner of the business died, leaving my future father-in-law without a job! From then on, both parents worked whenever they could, moving from one rented house to another where the rent was less.

Although the market crashed in 1929, the full effect did not hit southwestern Los Angeles until 1932 or 1933. When my future husband graduated from junior high school in 1933, the family could not afford to buy him white corduroy pants for the ceremoney, as required. The PTA bought them.

During the three years that Father had that grocery store, he earned good money! Many years later, Mother told me that it was in that market that Dad made the most money ever! In all other stores, he earned a living; but in that store he earned the money which bought in 1941 a large two-family home on Olympic Blvd, educated four daughters, and provided a comfortable retirement for my parents.

Now, whenever I think about the Depression, I remember that the daughter of William Gibbs McAdoo (former U.S. senator) was down to her last $20,000, she was so depressed that she committed suicide!!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Angagh Kalpakian MacKellar passed away at 5:30 pm at her home (breast cancer) on August 6, 2009. Her daughter, Patty, and 2nd husband, Dee Elwood, were there with her.. She was taken to Eternal Valley for cremation.

Angagh married George Lardie MacKellar, son of Malcom Cyril MacKellar and Bertha Esther Lardie, on 27 Oct 1946 in Los Angeles, CA. George was born on 16 Mar 1918 in Detroit, Michigan, USA, died on 25 Jul 1990 in Templeton, California at age 72, and was cremated in Templeton, California. {FGID: 109676784}

Burial Notes: Ashes scattered in the ocean off the coast of Cambria, Califnornia, USA.

+ 19 M i. James Harry MacKellar was born on 22 Jan 1948 in Los Angeles, California.

+ 20 F ii. Patricia Louise MacKellar was born on 7 Jan 1951 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA.

Angagh next married Roland "Dee" Elwood on 26 Sep 1998 in Paso Robles, California. Roland was born on 29 Mar 1916.

10. Peggy Kalpakian (Haroutune (Harry)⁴, Hagop², Garabed¹) was born on 26 Mar 1922 in Constantinople, Turkey.^¹

General Notes:

On Tuesday, January 6, 2015 10:41 AM,

Patty, my dear --
Thank you so very much for this DNA Report, which is most interesting. Your Mom's DNA would have been the very same as mine.
Re your question re blue eyed Armenians -- the answer is YES, I do know of them. Grandma had a brother (Arthur) and a sister (Dudu) who both had BLUE EYES. They were both born in the 1890's -- fairly close together -- and Grandma and Haigaz were born in 1901 and 1905 -- brown eyes. Both Uncle Art and Auntie Dudu died young in the early 1940's. (Auntie Dudu from cancer and Uncle Art from a heart attack.) Uncle Art was married, but had no children, and Auntie Dudu and Uncle John (Boyd -- Boyajian) had two American born children -- Gladys and Haig. Both Gladys and Haig (our first cousins) had BLUE EYES.
Since you expressed an interest in the blue-eye-thing, I am going to go back and add this to my memoir. Maybe some time later after I have made amendment, I will copy the first few pages of the Memoir and send it to you, if you would like to see it.
Again, many, many thanks to you and Jenk for this most interesting DNA report.
love always,
aunt peggy

From: "Patty Stephenson"
To: "Peggy Johnson"
Sent: Monday, January 5, 2015 8:44:40 PM
Subject: Your DNA compared to mine :)

Hi Aunt Peggy,

We just got your DNA results. To no surprise you are more than 80% West Asian while I am almost 40% West Asian. We are both about the same percentage of Italian/Greek. Then there is my dad's part of the mix. I have attached two documents. One shows just your heritage, while the other one shows yours and mine on one page so you can see the comparison. The Italian part might explain the blue eyes that Nancy got because as far as I know I have never met a blue-eyed Armenian, have you? (As you undoubtedly know blue eyes are recessive, so mom must have had that recessive trait from somewhere.)

I hope that you find this interesting. It is very interesting to me to see where we come from scientifically, not just by tradition.

I love you!!!

Patty
_______________________________________________________________________________

I think you know all this, but just in case..

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "maudie1j@comcast.net" <maudie1j@comcast.net>
To: "ravennablue@gmail.com" <ravennablue@gmail.com>; "pstephe7@yahoo.com" <pstephe7@yahoo.com>; "jenkjp@aim.com" <jenkjp@aim.com>; "bownboop@att.net" <bownboop@att.net>
Sent: ?Thursday?, ?February? ?12?, ?2015? ?09?:?50?:?22? ?PM? ?PST
Subject: Fwd: Martha & Haig (Corrections/Adjustments)

From: "donald abcarian" <domarabc@comcast.net>
To: maudie1j@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 8:45:44 PM
Subject: Re: Martha & Haig (Corrections/Adjustments)

Dear Peggy,

I very much appreciate your response.

All our best. . .

===============================================
On Feb 12, 2015, at 8:01 PM, maudie1j@comcast.net wrote:

Dear Donald --
Many thanks for your email and also for your corrections/adjustments. Your data has been very helpful -- and filled in the gaps in our timeline. Please accept our sincere gratitude.
Best regards,
peggy

From: "donald abcarian" <domarabc@comcast.net>
To: maudie1j@comcast.net
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2015 3:33:17 PM
Subject: Re: Martha & Haig (Corrections/Adjustments)

Dear Peggy,

Please excuse me for my mistake in referring to Haig as your first cousin in an earlier message, when you had told me clearly he was your uncle. I can't account for my confusion at the moment I was writing to you.

Concerning Martha's move to Long Beach: My wife has found that Martha and family were already in Long Beach in 1930, so
disregard whatever I said about her brother's landing a job at Shell Oil being being the reason for that move.

This has been a real learning experience for me in regard to both our families. Very valuable.

With very best wishes, Don

===============================================
On Feb 10, 2015, at 9:35 PM, maudie1j@comcast.net wrote:

Dear Donald --
Thank you for your email. 1935 could well have been the year Haigaz and Martha were married. They were both born in 1905 -- and would have been 30 years old. Their frequent visits to our house could well have been after 1935.
I am so glad I mentioned the doll houses Haigaz made. Imagine that! You still have one of them!
Thank you again for your email.
Sincerely,
peggy

From: "donald abcarian" <domarabc@comcast.net>
To: maudie1j@comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 9:10:32 PM
Subject: Re: Martha & Haig

Dear Peggy,

Thank you for your clarifications. My childhood memory consistently had Angakh as Haig's sister, when actually she was his first cousin! Goes to show! Glad to get that corrected after all these years. The story of your family bringing Haig over sounds familiar, but I still had things jumbled. We still have a rug that he owned from those days-- and one of the doll houses (with lamp) that he made. I consider the real farmhouse he built to be an extension of that same talent. Yes, the expression "jack of all trades" came into my life with him.

On when they got married, I will only say that both of us recall that they met as workers in an aircraft plant. It may have been in the mid 30s , but I'd have to research the history of the industry to see if that fits. Marcia, my wife, has just found information on internet that seems to indicate that Martha and Haig were married in 1935.

Martha was born on Dec. 13, 1905 and passed away on Oct. 7, 1998.

One thing I forgot to mention: Martha (and my mother) grew up on a farm and attended public until the 9th or 10th grade in Fowler, California, just outside of Fresno.

Looking forward to completing the picture, yours with best wishes, Don Abcarian.

==================================================
On Feb 10, 2015, at 7:49 PM, maudie1j@comcast.net wrote:

Dear Donald --
Thank you so very much for your email. First, let me say how very sorry I am to hear of the passing of your brother, Gilbert. I had several communications with him re Haigaz and Martha a long time ago. I do remember Aunt Martha and Annie brought Gilbert and Dick to our LA home for a visit -- probably in the early 30's.
Thank you so very much for filling in the gaps we were unaware of re Haigaz and Martha. I have been working on a family memoir for the past couple of years -- and this is so very helpful. Many, many thanks.
Just one comment, Martha and Haigaz must have been married in the early 30's -- not later. They used to come to our house for frequent visits in the 30's
when my sisters and I were growing up.

Here is the data on our family:

Haigaz is my mother's (Haigouhi) -- now Helen Kalpakian) younger brother. When my dad (Haroutune Kalpakian) brought our family to the US in 1923, we brought Haigaz with us. Before they left Adana, Turkey, Helen saw her younger brother Haigaz's name on a list of orphans in the newspaper. My dad paid for his discharge from the orphanage -- and brought him with us to the US. He was 17.

Tlhe Kalpakians had four daughters:
Angagh -- born in Adana in 1918 (now deceased)
Pakradouhi (Peggy) me. Born in Constantinople in 1922
Elizabeth Armenouhi - born in Venice, California in 1924
Harriett Meribe - born in Los Angeles in 1935 (now deceased)

Haigaz was our uncle. He never lived with us, but he was more like a big brother to my sisters and me. He took us for a rumble seat ride in his first Ford Coupe ---- and snapped our picture. He repaired our toys when they broke and delighted us with the doll houses he made -- with exquisite detail. He was a jack-of-all-trades, and we loved and respected him.

Laura Kalpakian is my daughter - (Laura McCreary) When she started writing books, she took my maiden name. You can find her web site on Laurakalpakian.com if you wish.

Again, Don, thank you so very much for your email. It has been a great pleasure for me to have known all the Abcarians.
Sincerely,
Peggy Kalpakian Johnson

From: "donald abcarian" <domarabc@comcast.net>
To: maudie1j@comcast.net
Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 12:21:09 PM
Subject: Re: Martha & Haig

Hello Peggy,

I am Don Abcarian. My brother Dick forwarded your inquiry about Martha
and Haig to me and my wife.

Let me here answer your first question.

Martha and Haig met while working in an aircraft factory in Long Beach
during or just before the Second World War.
They would have married shortly thereafter.

The following is connecting dots, but the best I can do:
Martha moved from Fresno to Long Beach together with her brother,
elderly father and her brother Vaughan who
landed a job at Shell Oil, this probably in the late 30s or early 40s.
Then she got the job at the aircraft factory and
met Haig.

After marrying, she and Haig had a small hot dog eatery on Venice
Beach, which they ran for several years.
About 1950 they moved to Fresno and ran a couple of grocery stores,
the first one just a block away from where
I lived in inner Fresno and another one out in the country. After
that, Haig bought a tract of farmland and built a
house and chicken coops on it and made a go of the egg business for a
few years. He daily delivered loads of eggs
to various grocery stores in Fresno and sold eggs directly to visitors
drawn by the sign he placed on the road near
his house. But he couldn't compete with the big egg producing
companies, so he sold the property, and he and
Martha moved into a modest little house on the outskirts of Fresno in
the late 50s.

A note: Unfortunately by brother Gil is no longer with us. He died as
a result of a tragic ladder accident in February 2006.

A couple of questions: Am I correct in assuming you are Haig's niece
and the daughter of his sister Angakh. I think I
remember meeting you once in my childhood when my mother and I were in
Long Beach.
And what is your relation with Laura Kalpakian? So much water has gone
under the bridge, I had to ask.
Correct me if I am wrong. Thank you.

With best regards, Don Abcarian
_____________________________________________________________________
August 1, 2018
Dear Patty and Jenk --
This is a very special THANK YOU for sending me the lovely picture of my family, circa 1926 or 1927 -- when we were still living in the gardener's cottage. It brought tears to my eyes. Mama looks so young and beautiful -- she had her hair marcelled for the picture -- and probably her sister, Dudu, helped her get us kids dressed for the picture. We plan to use this picture in my Memoir.
Thank you from my heart, dear ones.
love always,
aunt peggy
_________________________________________________________________

Peggy married William Jess Johnson,¹ son of William A. Johnson, about Sep 1944 in Long Beach, Los Angeles, California, USA. William was born on 1 Mar 1918 in St. Anthony, Idaho, died on 2 Sep 2012 in Bellingham, Washington, USA at age 94, and was buried in Ferndale, Washington, USA.

General Notes: Friday, September 7, 2012
Dear ones,
Today's service was a beautiful moment. We were very few, but all
family. Bear made a wonderful video with music commemnorating
Dahbee's life and times and gave us back the man we all loved after so
many years of his declining health. We saw this at the funeral home
and then drove in cortege up to the cemetery which is in a rural area
bounded by woods and farms.

There was a mllitary guard of honor there and Brian's pastor read a
v. touching homily about finding peace in storms. I read a eulogy.
Then the military guard saluted the coffin which was draped with a
flag, a young soldier played taps and they folded the flag in a
formal fashion and the soldier presented it to my mother on bended
knee.

We all came home here and had a wonderful lunch and a fine time
watching the video again and saluting Dahb, the man we knew and loved
and admired and respected.

I am attaching my eulogy here and Bear's video will be up online in
the Not Too Distant. I will let you know when you can see it. It's
only about ten minutes long, but it is so fantastic.

Next week wd have been Maude and Dahb 68th anniversary and we are
going to celebrate.

We love you all

Laura
____________________________________________________________________

From Laura on Facebook--
March 1, 2018 --Today my dad, Bill Johnson would be 100 years old, born in a hamlet, St. Anthony, Idaho. Went to college, fought in WWII in the Pacific, got a Masters, raised four children and two grandsons. Happy Birthday!
__________________________________________________________________________

23 M ii. Douglas Johnson was born on 19 Jan 1950 in Great Falls, Montana, USA.

+ 24 F iii. Helen Kathleen Johnson was born on 1 Jul 1952 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.

25 M iv. Brian Clarke Johnson was born on 23 Oct 1957 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.

11. Betty Kalpakian (Haroutune (Harry)⁴, Hagop², Garabed¹) was born on 18 Jan 1924 in Venice, Los Angeles County, California, USA and died on 4 Feb 2016 in Riverside, Riverside County, CA, USA at age 92. {FGID: 175605874}

Betty married Finley Jennings Bown. Finley was born on 12 Mar 1924 in Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California, USA and died on 20 Jan 1998 in Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA at age 73. {FGID: 175607144}

26 M i. Richard Bown was born on 23 May 1952 in Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA.

27 F ii. Barbara Bown was born on 11 Aug 1954 in Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA.

28 M iii. Ronald Bown was born in 1957 in Riverside, Riverside County, California, USA.

12. Harriett Meribe Kalpakian (Haroutune (Harry)⁴, Hagop², Garabed¹) was born on 9 Sep 1935 in Los Angeles, California^¹ and died on 7 Jul 2014 in Ojai, California, USA at age 78. {FGID: 143610207}

Harriett married Alan Donnell.¹ Alan was born on 5 Jul 1929 in Seattle, Washington, USA and died in Sep 2017 in Mount Dora, Florida, USA at age 88.

29 F i. Helen Pearl Donnell was born on 13 Sep 1967 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.

30 M ii. Howard H. Donnell was born on 27 Jul 1969 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA.

18. Armine Kalpakian (Nishan⁷, Hagop², Garabed¹) was born on 13 Mar 1935 in Craiova, Romania.

General Notes: From: Arminé Kalpakian <astridkalou@gmail.com>
Subject: News from Kalpakian family from France. Daughter of Nichan Kalpakian, niece of Harry

Message Body:
To the personal attention of Laura Kalpakian

Dear Laura,

This message will probably be a surprise for you. Please let me first introduce myself and my family.
I am writing in the name of my mother, named 'Arminé Kalpakian' (maiden name). She is the daughter of Nichan Kalpakian, who was the little brother of Harry Kalpakian. Harry had 4 daughters, and I believe you are the daughter of Peggy.
If I am right, my mother 'Arminé Kaloustian born Kalpakian' is your mother's first cousin. Her parents were Nevart Kalpakian (born Hekimian) and Nichan Kalpakian. Our grandfather passed away in 1970 and our grandmother in 1981.

My mum was born on March 13th 1935, in Craiova (Romania). She had a brother named Hagop born in July 1930 ('Jacques' in French). Due to the troubled times central Europe was going through at the time, the family left Romania and arrived in the south of France in 1937, in Marseille.

My mother Arminé married in 1963 with Jean Kaloustian and has 3 children : Frédéric (born 1964), Sonia (Born 1965) and Astrid Kaloustian (myself born 1966). We all live in France, in a city named 'Lyon'. Our father is still alive but quite sick, unfortunately.
Mum is 80 years old now, a bit frail but mentally strong. A rock of an Armenian mother. Sadly her brother (our uncle) died in 1997.
We all have heard from early childhood about mum's "Uncle from America" and his four daughters who married men with American names. Our mum used to write letters to her uncle when she was young (in armenian, and with the armenian alphabet). But with time going by, sadly she lost contact.

My brother kept looking for some traces of our family in the US via Internet, unsuccessfully until yesterday when he unearthed the link 'http://www.jenk.com/mackellar/Kalpakian_pictures/Kalpakian_pictures.html'.
Among all the pictures, we could see one of our mother (a 4 months old baby) and uncle Hagop (photo called 'Brother Nichan's Kids'); and one from our grandparents in Craiova in 1932! Magic Internet..
We were very excited, and I must say full of emotion (particularly our mother), to find all these photos. On our side, we do have some photos of Harry Kalpakian, his wife, his daughters and husbands, and grandchildren.

My mother was very moved yesterday that we found these information and pictures.
If you receive this message, please do not hesitate to forward it to your relatives and to get in touch with us. We would be very happy (and even more) to hear from you, your parents, aunts and cousins.

We could correspond and send you our photos from the past. Please, do not hesitate to get in touch. We are looking forward to it. In France, we are in contact with Mayda, one granddaughter of Harry's sister Isabelle. We hope to exchange soon with you about the rest of the family tree.
I hope 'à bientôt'.
(and sorry for my broken English)
Frederic, Sonia, Astrid and our mother Arminé Kalpakian married Kaloustian

Armine married Jean Kaloustian in 1963 in France. Jean was born on 18 May 1930, died on 26 Oct 2016 in Marseille, France at age 86, and was buried in Marseille, France.

General Notes: He died possibly in the month of Novermber, for sure it was 2016, and maybe in Lyon, France.

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Decendents of Garabed Kalpakian

Fourth Generation

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