JACK ANTREASSIAN REMEMBERED IN A MEMORIAL SERVICE AT ST. VARTAN CATHEDRAL
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Thursday August 20, 2009
New York – A large group of family, friends, and admirers of the
late Jack Antreassian gathered at New York’s St. Vartan Armenian
Cathedral on the afternoon of Sunday, July 26, 2009, for a memorial
tribute to the man who, in important respects, defined the critical,
formative years of the cathedral and Diocesan Center.
As executive director of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of
America from 1968 to 1975, Mr. Antreassian worked with then-Primate
Archbishop Torkom Manoogian to realize an ambitious vision of the
St. Vartan Cathedral Complex – a vision that remains influential more
than three decades later.
For the July 26 memorial service, Mr. Antreassian – who died on July
4 of this year – was remembered as a writer, editor, and leader of
such major Armenian institutions as the Eastern Diocese and the AGBU.
Readings were done by his daughter, Elise Antreassian Bayizian, his
grandchildren Kohar and Vahan Bayizian, and nieces and nephews Ashod
Antreassian, Haigoohi Cefalu, Tony Moscato, and Susan DeLeo.
Also reading from Jack Antreassian’s writings were Michael Zeytoonian,
Ed Setrakian, and Nishan Parlakian. Musical selections were performed
by Sahan Arzruni and Julie Hoplamazian. Florence Avakian played the
cathedral organ.
Presiding over the occasion was the Diocesan Primate, Archbishop
Khajag Barsamian. What follows is the text of the message delivered
by Archbishop Barsamian during the July 26 memorial service.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The news of Jack Antreassian’s passing was a deeply sorrowful occasion
– not only for his family, but for the entire Armenian-American
community. I am grateful that we have gathered today – in this great
cathedral that Jack loved, and which will always be closely associated
with him – to say a proper goodbye, as a community, to this great
and influential figure.
What can one say of a man who was the architect of so much that we
hold dear – so much of what we identify with, as Armenians in America?
It was not simply the case that he led our greatest institutions,
most notably the Diocese and the AGBU. Jack Antreassian actually set
the pattern by which they would be led, and set the standard for all
subsequent executives.
It was not simply the case that he enriched and built on the Armenian
inheritance. Jack Antreassian actually created whole forms of
literature – and our young writers of today are merely re-fashioning
the forms Jack Antreassian gave us. He was a man of many parts:
Intellectual, publisher, executive, impresario. Above all, I would say
– as perhaps he, too, would have insisted – a "man of letters." That
describes his aspiration, and the range of talents he brought to
bear in pursuing it. It is common enough to call such a person a
"Renaissance man." Many people would fit that description, and Jack
was certainly among them. But there is a deeper truth to that phrase,
which Jack was virtually alone in embodying: the ideal of marrying
different kinds of human activities in a single individual: the
life of contemplation with the life of action; the habit of artistic
detachment with the vocation of passionate commitment. That was the
deeper dream of the Renaissance. And as I say, in our community,
Jack Antreassian was without peer in fulfilling it.
In 1968, at the request of Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, then
the Primate of our Diocese, Jack took the helm of the Diocesan
Center. Starting on the eve of the cathedral’s consecration,
and continuing to 1975, Jack executed an ambitious vision of this
complex as a hub of constant activity. As the center’s first executive
director, Jack was a pioneer, and his tenure is still regarded as a
"golden age" of creativity and public service. The same was true,
it should be said, of Jack’s time as director of the AGBU.
The Diocese turned to Jack again in the days following the 1988
earthquake in Armenia, when Archbishop Torkom asked him to oversee
the Diocese’s relief efforts. That effort was the core of what would
eventually evolve into the Fund for Armenian Relief.
I know that to his family, all of these distinctions seem beside the
point, at this moment. Jack was a husband, a father, a friend. Each
of those roles is deeply personal, and the way Jack joined his soul
with those around him was especially intimate.
I think of his sweet marriage to Alice, and his tender ministry to
her these past, difficult years.
I think of the heroic regard in which he held his parents, Vahan and
Satenig; his brothers Ardashes, Ashod and Antranig; and his sisters
Anne and Varsenig.
I think of the love and pride he felt for his children, Michael
and Elise – and his noble desire to regard them as peers, when they
blossomed as accomplished individuals in their own right.
I think of the way Jack celebrated the advent of his grandchildren,
by writing a book expressing his innermost thoughts to them.
To hereafter be separated from such a powerful, personal force is
supremely painful – like losing a part of one’s own self.
At the same time, one can understand that living in the orbit of such
a man demands certain sacrifices from his family members – no matter
how dearly he loves them and wishes to benefit them.
And yet I can only observe that the Antreassian family has always
been a model of love, mutual support, and quiet pride. That spirit has
enfolded all the generations, from parent to child. In their own ways
– perhaps in ways they do not yet realize – each member of the family
has contributed to the great project that Jack pursued all his life.
This fact is, perhaps, the most beautiful testimony to the goodness
of his life’s work.
For decades, his dear wife, Alice, was another constant force here
at the Diocese. She could always be found here, and even donated all
the proceeds of her famous book on Armenian cuisine to this center.
And of course, for more than thirty years now, Jack and Alice’s
daughter, Elise, has been a true leader on the Diocesan staff. Under
her creative inspiration, our Christian education programs have
flourished, and thousands of young Armenians have been brought closer
to their heritage of faith.
As happens in the case of all truly great men, the news of Jack’s
passing brought a sensation of physical weight – as if the burdens of
the world would be that much heavier for the rest of us, now that he
is gone. What we have witnessed now is the passing of a great spirit,
whose living presence comforted and even magnified us.
Now he has gone to our Lord’s kingdom, and the magnitude of our task,
as the living, is gradually coming into focus. We cannot do better
than to try to live up to Jack’s ambition, embodied in an institution
like St. Vartan Cathedral: To portray the world in the fullness of
its truth, and to shape it under the aspect of love.
To his loved ones – to his surviving sister Varsenig; to his daughter
Elise and her husband Papken, and their children Kohar, Aris, and
Vahan; to Jack’s son Michael and his wife Brenda, and their son Adam;
and especially to Alice, who has lived these years under her own trials
– I convey my deepest sympathies and prayers. May God be with you,
now and always. And may our Almighty Creator keep Jack Antreassian
in His holy presence, until we are all re-united in God’s eternal
Kingdom. Amen.