The Record (Bergen County, NJ)
September 28, 2005 Wednesday
All Editions
Andrew Antranig Shahinian; fostered Armenian culture;
Helped preserve folk music, art
By PETER J. SAMPSON, STAFF WRITER, North Jersey Media Group
Andrew Antranig Shahinian of Oradell, a prominent member of the
Armenian-American community whose passion for native music and art
was celebrated, died Saturday after a long illness. He was 87.
Mr. Shahinian was born in Yerevan, Armenia, on June 2, 1918. Fleeing
ethnic genocide at the end of World War I, the family immigrated to
Syracuse, N.Y., in 1920 and relocated to New York City a decade
later.
An accomplished violinist, the young Mr. Shahinian turned down a
scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music and pursued a career in
graphic arts.
Enlisting in the U.S. Army during World War II, he became a pilot and
flight instructor, flying B-29 bombers. At the end of the war, he
resumed his career as a photoengraver.
Over the years, Mr. Shahinian and his partners acquired more than a
dozen firms, making the Master Eagle Family of Companies into one of
the largest graphic arts businesses in the country. He retired in the
late 1980s.
Mr. Shahinian was active in numerous Armenian-American organizations,
serving in leadership positions in the Armenian General Benevolent
Union, the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of
America and the Armenian Library and Museum of American, and on
various ad hoc committees dedicated to the advancement of Armenian
culture and the preservation and development of the fledging Armenian
nation.
He led humanitarian fund-raising and relief efforts to assist
Armenian refugees displaced by massacres and ethnic cleansing in the
Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan.
At home, Mr. Shahinian was known as “the rock,” because as the
patriarch of large extended family, he could always be counted on
when someone needed help, said his son, Armen Shahinian.
As a first-generation Armenian, he took pride in and was dedicated to
preserving the heritage and culture of an ancient people who at
various times in their history have come close to annihilation, said
Armen Shahinian.
He supported Armenian artists and writers at every opportunity and
possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of Armenian songs, taught by his
parents, that served his efforts to preserve folk music.
Mr. Shahinian is survived by his wife, Alice; five children, Steven
Shahinian of Midway, Ky.; Armen Shahinian of Franklin Lakes; Virginia
Devitre Shahinian of Cohasset, Mass.; Paul Shahinian of Wyckoff; and
Linda Pedrazzini of Switzerland; 13 grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
A wake will be held at St. Leon’s Armenian Church in Fair Lawn on
Thursday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services will be held
there Friday at 10 a.m. Arrangements are by William G. Basralian
Funeral Home, Oradell.
Donations are being directed to the Armenian General Benevolent
Union, 55 E. 59th St., New York, N.Y. 10022, for the AGBU Karabakh
Centennial Repopulation Project to aid displaced Armenian refugees.