HARDSHIP DIDN’T STEAL LIFE’S JOYSURVIVOR OF MASSACRES IN SYRIA SERVED GOD, OTHERS.
By Jim Steinberg
Fresno Bee, CA
April 20 2007
The Rev. Harry M. Missirlian of Fresno survived Ottoman Turkish
massacres of Armenians in Syria, suffered his parents’ and siblings’
disappearance and began life as an orphan with nothing.
Then he began a new lifetime of learning and prayer.
The Rev. Missirlian, who arrived in Fresno in 1953 to become minister
of Pilgrim Armenian Congregational Church, died April 11 at 94.
Reflecting on his life, he wrote in his book, "Treasures in Earthen
Vessels": "Bitterness takes the glory out of sunset, the joy out of
life, the song out of a gurgling brook, the light out of stars. Let
bitterness bury itself. There are more important things to do."
The Rev. Missirlian spoke Armenian, Arabic, French, Turkish and
English. He read the Old Testament in Hebrew and the New Testament
in Greek.
He did not dwell on his traumatic childhood but told daughter Dora
Crawford about early terror.
"He was in a train car or on a wagon with a bunch of boys in the
Syrian desert," she said.
"Dad realized this was not good, that they were being taken to
be killed."
Young Missirlian, about 4, managed to free himself, running literally
for his life. He heard others screaming.
He lived in doorways, begging for food, Crawford said, but his
harrowing memories never drowned the Rev. Missirlian in mourning.
He wrote in the third person in his book that he "carries no hatred
in his heart" and "is grateful to God for having miraculously survived
the massacres."
He became a ministry student and did field work in the slums of Beirut,
elsewhere in Lebanon and in Syria.
He married his first wife, Lydia, and worked toward a doctorate at
the University of Chicago.
Before he could write his dissertation, he received a call from the
Pilgrim church in Fresno. He had become used to subzero temperatures
in Chicago, but arrived in Fresno on July 1, 1953. It was 104 degrees.
He served 27 years, drawing satisfaction from construction of its
present campus at First Street and Dakota Avenue, particularly the
sanctuary.
Architect Richard Manoogian designed the church in close consultation
with the Rev. Missirlian, accentuating Armenian history and the life
of Jesus on Earth.
"He was overjoyed about a new sanctuary," Manoogian recalled.
Lydia Missirlian died in 1991. The Rev. Missirlian married his second
wife, Arousiag, a lifetime family friend, in 1993.
She recalled her husband’s compassion, religion and memory of hardship.
"He gave his heart and soul to that congregation," she said. "He
loved the children."
The Rev. Karl Avakian said that the Rev. Missirlian considered
the evil he had seen and suffered within his understanding of God:
"It is remarkable what he overcame. He did not hold that against
humanity and the world."
Arousiag Missirlian said her husband’s outstanding qualities were
compassion, his Christian faith and understanding of hardship: "He
loved the Christian church. He loved visiting people in sickness and
bereavement. People said that whenever anything happened, Harry was
right there."
A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Pilgrim
Armenian Congregational Church, 3673 N. First St. The family requests
that any remembrance be sent to the Armenian Evangelical Union of
North America, 609 E. Colorado St., Glendale, CA 91205.