St. Louis Post Dispatch, MO
Jan 10 2005

Shamrig Marifian, 94; a survivor of genocide
By Kimberly Ratliff
Of the Post-Dispatch

Shamrig (Jamgochian) Marifian, a survivor of the Armenian genocide,
died Monday (Jan. 3, 2005) of natural causes at Memorial Hospital in
Belleville. She was 94.

Mrs. Marifian was born in Van, Armenia. At the age of 6, she and her
family had to flee because of the genocide conducted by the Turkish
government against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire.

Mrs. Marifian and her two sisters survived the flight, but her
parents and two brothers died of starvation and illness.

Mrs. Marifian lived in orphanages before immigrating to the United
States in 1926.

Mrs. Marifian lived with cousins in the St. Louis area until she
married George Marifian, who was also from Van (now a part of
Turkey), in 1931. Over the years, she helped her husband, who owned
dry-cleaning establishments in East St. Louis and Belleville. When he
died in 1959, Mrs. Marifian and her son John continued to run the
business until it was sold in 1978.

In the mid-1950s, Mrs. Marifian was an active supporter in getting
the first Holy Shoghagat Armenian Church formed in East St. Louis.
The church has since moved to Swansea.

Among survivors are two sons, John Marifian of Downey, Calif., and
George E. Marifian of Belleville; two daughters, Amie Nersesian of
Belleville and Julia Matoesian of Edwardsville; 13 grandchildren; 12
great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild.

A funeral was Friday.

Memorials to Holy Virgin Mary and Shoghagat Armenian Church, 400
Huntwood Road, Swansea, Ill., 62226.