Boston Globe, MA
Jan 2 2005
Peter Aharon Goolkasian, 94; freethinker put talents to use
By Avi Steinberg, Globe Correspondent
Peter Aharon Goolkasian, a druggist, inventor, and artist, died Dec.
21 in Armenian Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Jamaica Plain. He
was 94.
A survivor of the Armenian Genocide of 1915, Mr. Goolkasian was
unusually candid about his experience with human brutality, but he
was never defined by it. “He was a great lover of life, never bitter,
and despite losing almost his entire family, he was one of the most
optimistic people I knew,” said his daughter, Dianne Goolkasian
Rahbee.
Although he never returned to his native Armenia, Mr. Goolkasian
planted and maintained a mulberry tree, a tree common in his
homeland, in his backyard as a reminder of his lost home. “Even
before ethnic pride was popular, my father instilled us with pride in
who we are and where we came from,” said his other daughter,
Priscilla DerAnanian.
Born in 1910, he was a young child when the genocide swept through
his homeland. He was eventually brought to Boston and raised by his
uncle and mother. He decided to go into the family business of
running pharmacies, and after graduating from the Massachusetts
College of Pharmacy, settled in Waltham with his young family and ran
his own shop. Over the years he owned and worked at various
apothecaries in the Boston area, including Beacon Hill’s Clough &
Shackley.
Having gone into the family business as a matter largely of duty and
convenience, Mr. Goolkasian undertook a midlife career change and
pursued what had been until then only a hobby: electronics. He worked
for Honeywell then Bolt, Beranek and Newman.
Known for his lively intellect and impulse for tinkering, Mr.
Goolkasian was responsible for a number of patented inventions:
“tooth-ease pads,” colored flames for birthday candles, and a heart
pulse monitor used for patients during surgery, according to family
members. Before tape-recording technology was widely available, he
once fashioned a recording device out of a Coca-Cola box for his
young daughter to use when practicing the piano.
After his retirement, Mr. Goolkasian had time to pursue other
passions, such as fashioning stained-glass lamps and gem faceting.
His sold his gems, cut in a special style that he devised, to area
jewelers.
At age 84, Mr. Goolkasian decided that it was time to commit his
story to paper and wrote a frank memoir, “My Life,” which was
published privately by his family. His book, which he dedicated to
“all those people in the family of humanity that have suffered from
man’s inhumanity to man,” was received warmly in a letter by Elie
Weisel.
Mr. Goolkasian also penned a collection of essays, “Deliberations
Today for a Better Tomorrow,” on topics ranging from children to
religion to mythology and the environment. “He was a freethinker,
always eager to give advice. Once we gave him a computer, there was
no stopping him,” recalled his daughter Priscilla.
“He enjoyed life and took pleasure in all living things,” said
Priscilla. “He never used insecticides or fenced his garden because
he wanted to share it with everyone, even with the animals in the
yard.”
Besides his daughters, Mr. Goolkasian leaves his wife of 67 years,
Isabelle; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
Funeral services were held Dec. 24 in Holy Trinity Armenian Church in
Cambridge. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Acton.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress