WOMAN HELPED CREATE PITT’S ARMENIAN ROOM
By Jerry Vondas
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA
June 25 2006
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
August 1988 had a special meaning for Alice Kabakjian Lewis, daughter
of Armenian immigrants who achieved the American dream – that of
raising their family in a society devoid of sectarian strife.
During that month, the Armenian Nationality Room was added to the
Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh, a project that
Mrs. Lewis; her husband, Alexander Lewis; and numerous members of
the Armenian community strived to complete.
Alice K. Lewis, 91, of Mt. Lebanon, died Thursday, June 22, 2006,
in St. Clair Hospital, Mt. Lebanon.
"Alice and her husband, from the very beginning of the Armenian Room
project, were faithful members and very generous donors to the room,
which is patterned after a 10th- to 12th-century Armenian monastery
library," said E. Maxine Bruhns, director of the Nationality Rooms
Program.
"They followed it through until its dedication," she added.
Dennis Lewis recalled his mother’s pride in helping to create the
Armenian Room.
"Although the Armenian community in Pittsburgh is rather small,
they represent a group of Christians who date back to the early days
of Christianity," he added. "The room and its artifacts serve as a
memory of a cultured people.
"Although my brothers, Alex and Brady, and myself were raised in a
typical American household, we’re proud of our Armenian heritage,"
Dennis Lewis said.
Lewis also recalled the achievements of his maternal grandparents,
Dicran and Dicranouhi Kabakjian, who arrived in the United States in
1912. His grandfather became a professor of physics at the University
of Pennsylvania and raised his mother and her siblings in the Lansdowne
area of Delaware County.
In 1936, Alice Kabakjian received a degree in English from the
University of Pennsylvania.
Shortly afterward, she met Alexander Lewis, who at the time was
completing a master’s degree in chemistry at Penn.
"My parents were married in 1942," Dennis Lewis said. "Dad entered the
Navy and for the next three years my parents were based in California,
where Dad was involved in analyzing the fuel supplies used by the
military.
"They arrived in Pittsburgh in 1946, when Dad went to work for
Gulf Oil. Dad had the opportunity to receive his doctorate from the
University of Pittsburgh and in later years was appointed president
of the Gulf Oil Foundation."
Because of Alexander Lewis’ position with Gulf Oil, the family traveled
around the world, Dennis Lewis recalled.
"It was never dull," he said. "My mother, who was fluent in French,
was a big asset for my father in his travels.
"She was an active member of Southminster Presbyterian Church (Mt.
Lebanon) and took the time to write a book about the Armenian genocide
in 1915.
"She interviewed her Aunt Grace and titled her book "Shnorhig," which
means grace in Armenian," he added. "Her aunt was one of 20 Armenian
female music students who attended Anatolia College in Merzifon,
Turkey, and, with the protection of the American consulate, were able
to escape the genocide."
Mrs. Lewis is survived by her sons, Alexander III, of Lafayette,
Calif., Dennis, of Mt. Lebanon, and Brady Lewis, of Squirrel Hill;
six grandchildren; and sisters Louise Treichel and Lillian Bailey,
both of Philadelphia.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Alexander Lewis Jr., and
her brothers, Raymond and Armen Kabakjian.
Friends will be welcomed from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. today at the
Laughlin Memorial Chapel, 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday in Southminster Presbyterian Church.
Interment will be in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery.