Philadelphia Inquirer, PA
April 23 2006
‘I have a lifetime of memories’Active in the Boy Scouts for 75 years,
George Kangian, 86, recently was honored by the group.
By Rusty Pray
Inquirer Staff Writer
The trophies George Kangian displays in his living room, the
mementoes he spreads out on his kitchen table, the thick scrapbook he
keeps in a safe place – all chronicle the life he chose to lead.
Kangian, who grew up in West Philadelphia and who has lived in Cherry
Hill for 40 years, has led a Boy Scout’s life – literally. Kangian,
86, has been active in the Boy Scouts on one side of the Delaware
River or the other for 75 years.
Seventy-five years is a long time to live, let alone be affiliated
with a single organization.
“I have a lifetime of memories,” he said. “I have no regrets.”
Southern New Jersey Council officials say that although Kangian is
not the oldest person in scouting in South Jersey – there’s a
100-year-old Eagle Scout – he is the longest continuously registered
official in the council. He is a commissioner who supervises 10
troops or Cub Scout packs in Cherry Hill.
The council recently honored him with an award for his years of
service.
“As a 75-year veteran of scouting, George has… impacted the lives
of thousands of youth and adults,” said Ron Pierson, the council’s
assistant executive. “Even with 75 years in scouting, George’s
passion for the program, and his desire to guide and inspire youth
and adults, has not waned.”
Impact is a two-way street. There is little in Kangian’s life that
was not influenced by the Boy Scouts. He and his wife, Mary, were
married 61 years ago at Northminster Presbyterian Church, where he
attended scout meetings as a youth. He named his only son, Robert,
after a scoutmaster he admired.
The Kangians also have a daughter, Marsha Marshall, who lives in
Haddonfield. His granddaughter, Alexandra Marshall, typed and edited
a short memoir he wrote of his years in scouting.
By Kangian’s estimation, he has spent 6,000 hours attending troop
meetings – not counting training, camping, or the time he has devoted
to various committees.
“I knew him growing up,” Mary Kangian said. “All he would do is talk
Boy Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boy Scouts. My mother asked me, ‘Why does he
go to Boy Scouts? How much do they pay him? I told her, ‘Mom, he’s
not paid.’ She said, ‘He’s crazy.’ ”
“When I was young, everybody thought I was an oddball,” he said.
“Now, I’m an old oddball.”
Kangian, the son of an Armenian immigrant, joined Troop 113 in 1931,
just 21 years after the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated in the
United States.
“I had two sisters, and I was the only boy in the family. I didn’t
want to be a sissy, so I joined the Boy Scouts,” said Kangian, an
Army Air Corps veteran of World War II who flew more than 50 missions
in Europe as a ball-turret gunner in a B-24.
Joining the scouts put him on the path documented by the markers he
keeps around him.
There’s the trophy from Troop 113 honoring him for 20 years of
service. There’s the plaque given to him by an Armenian Boy Scout
troop he visited while on vacation in Jerusalem. He said they were
refugees from Iraq and Iran.
Among the items in the thick scrapbook is an autograph from James E.
West, one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America. Kangian got
West’s signature when he attended the first national jamboree in 1937
in Washington. There’s memorabilia of the troops he organized in the
city while working for the Philadelphia Housing Authority.
The memories remind Kangian why he stayed so long in scouting.
“If I’ve helped one boy or one leader, then I’m one very happy old
scout,” he said.
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