H. MEKHDJIAN, 21, MAN WITH GENTLE HEART
By Jessie Mangaliman
San Jose Mercury News,
Nov 19 2006
Friends Recall College Student’s Humility And Caring
Mercury News
Julie Barsoumian has an indelible, vivid image of Harout Mekhdjian.
He was about 3 or 4 years old, standing before his schoolmates at an
Armenian school in Cupertino, reciting a 14th-century Armenian poem
from memory.
"I was very touched," said Barsoumian, who had known Mr. Mekhdjian
since birth. "He related to a subject that was much bigger than
himself."
For all who knew and loved Mr. Mekhdjian, that fearless, joyful
enthusiasm to tackle anything big and small was the character that
most defined his young life.
Everyone around him, it seemed, noticed or felt his devotion and
passion for any task that came his way.
Mr. Mekhdjian, a junior at San Jose State University, died Nov. 5
after a motorcycle accident in a parking lot at De Anza Community
College. While trying out a friend’s bike, he hit a curb and was
thrown off. Friends said he died on the way to the hospital. He was 21.
At a wake Nov. 9 at St. Andrew Armenian Apostolic Church in Cupertino,
hundreds of Mr. Mekhdjian’s friends gathered to mourn.
There were his young charges in the Boy Scout troop, the Homenetmen
Ani of Santa Clara Valley, his SJSU business fraternity brothers at
Alpha Kappa Psi, church deacons, Armenian mothers like Barsoumian who
saw him grow to a young adult, his family and all his young friends.
"As tragic as everything was for his family and his friends, it
was a comfort to see how many people came to pay their respects,"
said his cousin, Lena Dakessian, 19, a junior at the University of
California-Berkeley.
"That service confirmed for me how he was a gem, a truly special
person," Dakessian said.
Born Sept. 23, 1985, in San Jose, Mr. Mekhdjian graduated from Fremont
High School. From a young age, he was a Boy Scout. Later, he became
an active and well-loved troop leader.
"He did this thing. He’d touch your ears and wiggle them," recalled
his friend, Aleen Koumriqian, 18, who attends De Anza College. "It
meant how much he loved you."
Mr. Mekhdjian, friends said, was not sparing in doling out his love.
He gave generously, freely.
"He was just the most kind-hearted individual I’ve ever met," said his
friend Taleen Moroyan, 22, who attends UC-San Diego. "Always smiling,
always positive. I’ll carry that memory with me."
After graduating from high school, Mr. Mekhdjian attended De Anza,
then later transferred to SJSU, where he studied management information
systems. He completed an internship at the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, but he never boasted about it.
"For all of the things that he was," Dakessian said, "he was also
modest. And he had so many things, so many good things, that he
could flaunt."
At the 15th-anniversary celebration of his scout troop, Mr. Mekhdjian
thanked the group for introducing "me to a great horizon of people,
but it also brought me closer to my heritage and culture."
His grandparents were survivors of the Armenian genocide in Ottoman
Turkey. His parents emigrated from Lebanon.
Like many parents who witnessed Mr. Mekhdjian’s coming of age from
a young boy reciting Armenian poetry, to candle bearer, to church
deacon at St. Andrew, Barsoumian said his sudden death struck at a
small community’s heart.
"I’ve never heard Harout complain about anything being hard or
difficult," Barsoumian said. "He blossomed from this very sweet boy
to someone who nurtured other people."
Harout Mekhdjian
Born: Sept. 23, 1985, San Jose.
Died: Nov. 5, 2006, Cupertino.
Survived by: his parents, Manoug and Meline Mekhdjian, two sisters,
Houry and Aline, all of San Jose.
Services: Have been held.
Memorial: The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can
be made to the Harout Mekhdjian Memorial Trust Fund, in care of St.
Andrew Armenian Apostolic Church, 11370 S. Stelling Road, Cupertino,
Calif. 95014.