Framingham Metro West Daily News, MA
June 29 2004

Bond of ‘brothers’ can’t be broken
By Jeff Adair / News Staff Writer

Dr. H. Martin Deranian can’t help but compliment Cameron Fersch.

“He’s done very well in his life,” he says.

“Martin has always said that,” replies Fersch, as if he’s heard
it a million times before.

“It’s true. I really believe that,” said Deranian, 81. “His life
could have gone any way. It could have been the people…”

“Breaking into people’s homes,” said Fersch, finishing the
sentence with a chuckle.

Talking to the pair, it’s obvious they have a mutual respect for
one another. They sound like best buddies. They sound like old
childhood friends.

That’s not exactly right.

For 39 years, Deranian, a Shrewsbury dentist, and Fersch, owner
of Cameron Tile Co. in Holliston, have maintained a friendship.

They talk on the telephone or get together on a monthly basis
for lunch.

They first met in Worcester when Fersch was an angry
11-year-old. He grew up poor in a broken home. His father, who was
physically violent and psychologically abusive, deserted Fersch’s
mother and four children. His mother suffered from depression and
several years later, when Fersch was in his late teens, he stopped
her from committing suicide. She succeeded on a second attempt.

“There was no love. There was no real sense of intrinsic
self-worth provided by either parent,” he said.

Deranian and his wife were unable to have children, so he signed
up to be a big brother with the then-newly launched Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Worcester County.

The two were matched. It was Fersch’s second. He bombed out on
his first match when his mentor got angry on a bowling outing when
Fersch purposefully threw the ball when the changer was down.

“We immediately seemed to strike it off,” Deranian recalled. “I
took you for ice cream.”

Looking over a bunch of notes he has kept on Fersch over the
years, Deranian recalled the lad as bright but with a very negative
attitude. He never spoke of his father. He was cynical, he said.

“I did’t trust people,” said Fersch. “It took me a long time to
get over that.”

The two went camping, to the movies, to the airport and the
science museum, and they often ate out.

Ben Ticho, longtime executive director of Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Worcester County, which is merging with the MetroWest
office, has known the two friends for years.

“It’s an amazing relationship,” he said, noting that while it’s
the oldest ongoing match in the area, he heard of a man in New York
whose friendship with his mentor goes back to before World War II.

Fersch describes his relationship with Martin as a lifeline.

“One of the things about Martin that made him so important in my
life, you can probably see, he was not judgmental,” he said. “He
always saw how things could have been.”

Two years ago, Fersch signed up to be a big brother and now
mentors Malakahai Pearson, 9, of Framingham.

“I really have no experience with children. I’ve learned about
setting limits,” he said.

Deranian, who still works in dentistry and recently wrote a book
on Armenians in Worcester, glowed from ear to ear like a proud
grandfather as Fersch talked about his relationship with Pearson.

“Isn’t this what we’re supposed to do in life?” said Fersch.
“Isn’t this what it’s all about?”