PRESS OFFICE
Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF)
630 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Contact: Berjouhi Saladin
Tel: (212) 686-0710 Ext. 34
E-mail: [email protected]
April 10, 2006
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ACEF ENDOWMENT FUND BENEFITS CEMETERY OF GENOCIDE SURVIVORS
About a half mile from the Holy Resurrection Church in South Milwaukee, WI,
is the Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery. For more than 50 years the
cemetery has served a tight Armenian community, becoming the final resting
place for many survivors of the Genocide.
Today, in an effort to keep the cemetery in good repair now and for
generations to come, community leaders are in the middle of a fund-raising
drive. The donations will not be used today; instead they will be invested
in an endowment fund managed by the Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF).
The income from this investment will provide a steady stream of revenue to
maintain the historic cemetery.
STRONG COMMUNITY
The Armenian community in South Milwaukee began to grow in the 1920s, with
services every week at an Episcopal church. By 1924 the community decided
to buy its own sanctuary.
Two decades later, the community was offered the opportunity to buy a
cemetery from the Episcopal church which was its first meeting place. The
Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery was established in 1947 and, for many
decades, was the only Armenian cemetery in the United States.
“It’s part of our heritage. It’s a connection to our past. Many of the
people buried there are survivors of the Genocide, so it is the most
important part of our church,” said Nancy Tamuzian Shoman, secretary of the
parish council at the Holy Resurrection Church and a member of the cemetery
committee. “My parents are there and I intend to be there someday too,
because that’s where I belong.”
Her parents, Osanna and Eghia, are some of the Genocide survivors who have
found an eternal home at Soorp Haroutune. Her mother was an orphan sold
into slavery, and her father was forced from his village with 26 relatives,
and was the only one to survive.
“With the history in the cemetery, there is a very special feeling that
comes over you when you go there,” she said. “It is a very strong emotional
feeling that ties us to these people.”
The small community of just 42 people is tight, and most have a connection
to the cemetery. It is seen as a community effort, with volunteers giving
their time to oversee it and the priest and choir coming out every Memorial
Day to hold a service at the cemetery, to bless the graves and read the roll
of those buried there.
The 3-acre cemetery has about 350 people buried there, and the cemetery
committee also cares for 95 Armenian graves in a neighboring Episcopal
cemetery. Plots at Soorp Haroutune are also intentionally priced at only
$65 so every Armenian can afford it.
“We don’t want to raise the price, because it’s a service to the community,”
Tamuzian Shoman said. “We all take care of this cemetery because it is a
true labor of love for our past, our heritage, and our ancestors.”
SECURING A FUTURE
Even with strong community involvement, running a cemetery is a pricy
business. The grass has to get cut. Landscaping needs to be done. Last year
the water pipe needed to be replaced, and it was costly to get it working
again.
And with an aging and declining parish, the Armenians of South Milwaukee
want to know the cemetery will be taken care of not just in the near future
but for generations. That is why they established an endowment fund with
the Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF) in 2002. Along with the fund
established by the cemetery committee, the Charley Kademian Endowment Fund
provides annual revenue to the cemetery as well.
“It’s an obligation for a lot of people, a sense of maintaining a connection
to their parents and grandparents,” Tamuzian Shoman said. “We feel that
these people went through a lot in their lives and came here and became
successful parents and they worked hard and so their resting place should be
one of dignity, that is well taken care of. That is why we’re doing this.”
The funds invested in ACEF can never be touched, but the income generated by
the interest earned provides a steady revenue stream for the cemetery’s
operations. Along with the Diocese of the Armenian Church (Eastern) and its
parishes, ACEF funds can be established to benefit any Armenian Church
related non-profit organization. From the Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery
to local Armenian day schools to the Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR), all
sorts of organizations benefit from funds professionally managed by ACEF’s
board.
The Soorp Haroutune Armenian Cemetery is looking to raise $165,000 in
donations. The fund-raising drive has already received a $10,000 gift from
the Hamparian Family Foundation.
Parish leaders in South Milwaukee hope the larger Armenian community will
step forward with donations, providing eternal support for the cemetery
which houses so many Genocide survivors.
“We hope they will support us because they’re Armenians and understand the
history and what these people went through,” Tamuzian Shoman said. “It’s a
way to express your caring for these people and the respect for what they
went through and were able to accomplish. I think people will want to help
us. I hope I’m right.”
Donations can be sent to:
Armenian Church Endowment Fund
For: Soorp Haroutune Cemetery
630 Second Ave.
New York, NY 10016-4806
Checks should be made payable to the Armenian Church Endowment Fund, with
“Soorp Haroutune Cemetery” in the memo.
For more information on this fund, or for details on starting an endowment
fund, contact Berjouhi Saladin by e-mailing [email protected] or
calling (212) 686-0710 ext 34.