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January 26, 2007
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ARCHBISHOP KHAJAG BARSAMIAN’S EULOGY FOR SARKIS ACOPIAN

Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Church
of America (Eastern), delivered the eulogy Friday, January 26, 2007, in St.
Vartan Cathedral for the funeral of Sarkis Acopian, a long-time steward of
the Armenian Church and the community at large. What follows are the
Primate’s remarks.

* * *

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lord, you have been our refuge in all generations. Before the mountains
were brought forth, or you had formed the earth and the world, from
everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

You return man to the dust, and say, "Turn back, O children of men!" For a
thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a
watch in the night.

The years of our life are three-score and ten, or by reason of strength
four-score; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and
we fly away.

So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom. Satisfy
us in the morning with thy steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad
all our days.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our
hands upon us. Yes, establish, O Lord, the work of our hands. (Psalm
90:1-17)

We are told that these words, from the book of Psalms, were remembered as a
prayer written by Moses: a man of long and reverend years, who had seen much
in his lifetime – enough, indeed, for several lifetimes. A man who played
many roles in his life; who accomplished great works – perhaps the greatest
of human works – yet who never forgot that even for the greatest of mortals,
there is One who is greater still. In the scheme of things, Man occupies but
a moment of time; but God is everlasting.

That is the God to whom Moses prayed: the Creator of the mountains, and the
world itself. But most of all, the shepherd of men, who guides them along
the path to wisdom, dignifies them with His love, and grants them the
precious gifts of joy and happiness.

"Let God’s blessing be upon us," Moses prayed, "and establish the work of
our hands": Let our hands do your work, Lord.

That same sentiment-whether spoken aloud or nurtured silently in the
heart-has been the prayer of all truly pious people done through the ages.
"Let my hands do your work, Lord." To be able to offer such a prayer,
honestly, from the depths of one’s heart, is the truest sign of wisdom in a
person. Not surprisingly, it is also the key to a certain kind of inner
peace, which itself is one of the foundations of genuine happiness. As the
Psalm says, no matter how old a man may become, mortal life is all too
fleeting, and wisdom, happiness, and the knowledge that you have done God’s
work, are the blessings that allow us to depart life, at any age, contented
and at peace.

We have gathered to remember such a man today. He, too, was a man of great
ambitions and astonishing accomplishments; in every way a man of great
daring and enterprise. But at the same time, Sarkis Acopian was a man who
never ceased turning his hands to God’s work. His profound trust in God
inspired him to even greater things, and left a lasting mark on his family,
his friends and colleagues, the Armenian Church and the young Republic of
Armenia, and this great country of America.

Sarkis Acopian’s life story is remarkable in and of itself. His parents,
Dr. Grigor and Dr. Arax Acopian, left Russia and Turkey to settle in Tabriz,
Iran, where Sarkis was born. One can only imagine what their household must
have been like. In knowing Sarkis and his sisters, Miriam Bradley and the
late Eleanora Ordjanian-as I have been privileged to do-one gets a glimpse
of the rare qualities of character Grigor and Arax must have possessed.
Certainly they raised three remarkable children; and Sarkis’s gratitude to
them, especially to his mother, was extremely touching to behold. He
honored Arax Acopian in a deeply beautiful way several years ago, when he
built an Armenian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a memorial to her.
It stands today as the St. Sarkis Church, and it will continue to serve as
one of the many enduring legacies of Sarkis Acopian’s life and work.

Sarkis was less then 20 when he left Iran to study engineering in the United
States. He took up studies in Easton, Pennsylvania, at Lafayette College,
and that place must have left a deep impression on him, for he made it his
home thereafter.

One enforced move away from Easton, however, at the behest of the United
States Army Air Corps, proved to have a greater meaning for his life. While
stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, he met his
future wife, Bobbye. Their marriage endured for 59 years-three-quarters of
Sarkis’s life-and remained in his eyes the accomplishment of which was the
most proud.

The other great pride in his life was a direct extension of his marriage to
Bobbye: their two sons, Greg and Jeff, and the vigorous, beautiful extended
family that grew up around the Acopian household. Again, it has been a
great pleasure for me to get to know Greg and Karen, and Jeff and Helen, and
the six Acopian grandchildren and, lately, two great grandchildren. To see
the bonds of love and loyalty among them, the pride they feel for their
parents and for each other’s achievements, is a reminder to me of life’s
truest riches, and its greatest purpose.

Perhaps it is not surprising that a man with such a lively community around
him would be attracted to solitary pursuits. The life of an inventor is
itself a solitary occupation; and Sarkis’s passions also spoke to that side
of the human character that relishes being alone with oneself, surrounded by
an open world. Sarkis loved flying, and was a fine and accomplished pilot.
He loved the natural world, and conservation. He was very interested in
birds, and was a major contributor to the study of the birds of Armenia.
The appeal of one of his passions, sky-diving, remains a mystery to me; but
it does seem to be in line with that grand, wonderful, daring personality I
came to know and admire over the course of many years.

Our personal relationship reaches back nearly a decade, to when Sarkis
literally burst upon the Armenian-American scene by making a million-dollar
gift in honor of the centennial anniversary of the Armenian Church’s Diocese
of America. It was the kind of gift that instantly placed him among the
ranks of our major benefactors; but it was clear to me from our first
meeting that Sarkis was not interested in fleeting notoriety. As in every
aspect of his life, so in his philanthropy, Sarkis was a serious man, with
serious objectives he wanted to accomplish. If he felt strongly about a
project or cause, his generosity was boundless; but more importantly he
would master every detail of the project-truly take ownership of it, as they
say, and make it his own. And I must say that his discipline, his
questioning, his sense of accountability, made the projects he supported
better, and more effective, than they would otherwise have been.

I can only give a brief list of the many institutions of learning and
benevolence that benefited from Sarkis Acopian’s magnanimous heart and
incisive imagination. These include Lafayette College, Muhlenberg College,
the Florida Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and the American
University of Armenia; the State Theatre of Easton, the Easton National
Canal Museum, and the Children’s Home of Easton; Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and
the Nature Conservancy; The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, and two churches
in Armenia, St. Hagop and St. Mesrob; St. Sarkis Armenian Church in
Charlotte; the Armenian General Benevolent Union; the Armenian Embassy in
Ottawa, Canada; the Armenian Assembly of America; and the Armenia Fund.

Inspired by his great love for this country, Sarkis also played a major role
the construction of the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. He made
the largest individual donation to the memorial, a fact which was proudly
remarked upon by Senator Robert Dole, and proudly noted by countless
Americans of Armenian descent. In typical fashion, and now with a national
spotlight upon him, Sarkis humbly dismissed any words of personal praise,
and instead called his contribution a debt of gratitude, and a role of honor
for a man who owed his life to the courage, sacrifice, and decency of the
World War Two generation.

Now that life has reached its natural conclusion, in peace, and in the
company of his loved ones. In the scheme of things, even a life of 80 years
is fleeting; but what remains, and endures, is the work of a man’s hands.
Or rather, the work of God, which mortal hands are permitted to do. Surely
that will prove to be the case with Sarkis Acopian. From the time of our
first meeting, there was never any doubt in my mind that he wished above all
to turn his mortal hands-his talented, nimble hands-to the everlasting work
of our Lord. In the shadow of his death, it is clear that this same wish,
this prayer, animated so much of his life and achievement. The rest of us
can only say that we were privileged to share that work with such a man, if
even for a fleeting moment; and we are blessed to be able to hold his
example before us to the end of our own days.

To his devoted wife Bobbye; his sons Greg and Jeff and their families; to
his sister Miriam; to countless friends, colleagues, and loved ones, I
convey my deepest condolences and prayers. May God be with you all at this
time. And may He bless the soul of Sarkis Acopian, now and forever. Amen.

END

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress