Spartan Daily – St. Jose State University, CA
January 8, 2007 Monday

San Jose State U. student remembered as easygoing, dedicated

By Andrew Torrez, Spartan Daily; SOURCE: San Jose State U.

When friends speak about Harout Mekhdjian, one of the phrases that
constantly comes up is, "He was always there for people."

"He was easygoing," said Justin Dietrich, a friend of Mekhdjian.
"Honestly, he was a good down-to-earth person."

Mekhdjian, 21, a San Jose State University student, died on Nov. 5
after crashing a friend’s motorcycle in the parking lot at De Anza
College.

At Mekhdjian’s memorial service on Nov. 9, family and friends from
SJSU, De Anza, the Boy Scouts and National Aeronautics Space
Administration came to show their respect for the San Jose native.

"I had never seen a funeral with that many people," said Valerie
Pagtakhan, a friend of Mekhdjian and a nursing major at SJSU. "There
was not a seat that was empty."

Pagtakhan said that the amount of people that went to Mekhdjian’s
service reflects on how nice of a person he was.

"It’s unfortunate that he had to leave us so early," Pagtakhan said.
"He touched so many people’s lives and really made a difference."

While majoring in management information services at SJSU, Mekhdjian
was a Boy Scout troop leader, involved with his Armenian church and
was the Web master for the business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi.

Pagtakhan said Mekhdjian was always willing to help anyone that
needed it. She said that Mekhdjian was there to help fraternity
brothers that were having trouble in classes.

"He was really smart, so he would help the brothers that needed it,"
Pagtakhan said. "He was always going out of his way to help people."

Dietrich said Mekhdjian showed dedication in whatever he did, whether
it was at his internship at NASA or in school.

"I think he had over a 3.5 here (at SJSU), and a 3.8 or higher at De
Anza," Dietrich said. "I think he was so dedicated because he had a
lot of admiration for his parents. That made him want to do well. His
parents were really proud of him."

Dietrich said Mekhdjian was close to his family. Mekhdjian is
survived by his mother, father and two sisters.

"He would always be talking to his family," Dietrich said. "Every
time I was with him, he was on the phone with his parents,"

Julisa Lee, a junior at SJSU, said she first met Mekhdjian during a
tour at NASA, where her boyfriend, Dietrich, and Mekhdjian were
interning.

Lee described Mekhdjian as an easygoing and caring person. Lee got to
know him better while she was his pledge mother for the SJSU
fraternity.

"He was funny and always happy," Lee said. "I never saw him sad or
worried."