Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA
Aug 24 2007
Despite the suffering of his family, man pursues peace
By Imani Tate, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 08/23/2007 11:00:00 PM PDT
Dr. Garbis Der Yeghiayan of La Verne believes in peace and
reconciliation, even when such beliefs are met with resistance and
rancor.
"I don’t believe our children should inherit hatred or carry the
torch of hatred," he said, explaining the need to reconcile the
Armenian genocide by the Young Turks in the early 20th century. "We
cannot go on with the status quo."
Rotary International recently gave Der Yeghiayan the Service Above
Self Award, its highest honor, for his unswerving devotion to global
peace.
He conceded peace is not popular with some Armenians and Turks.
Turkish textbooks still switch the roles each side played, claiming
Armenians killed Turks. The Turkish government refuses to admit to, or
apologize for, the genocide claiming 1.5 million Armenian lives.
Peace is not cheap, asserted the man who lost 41 relatives to
genocide. It cannot be achieved sitting silently on the sidelines and
waiting for someone else to take up the gauntlet, he said.
Der Yeghiayan is a spiritual man whose lineage is filled with men of
faith. His first name, another version of paternal grandfather
Garabad’s name, means forerunner.
Yeghia Der Yeghiayan, his paternal great-grandfather, was the
archpriest of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Kharpert, the ancient
Armenian city now in Turkey and re-named Elazig. In 1913, his arms
were chopped off from his naked body and he was thrown into the
Euphrates River because he refused to deny his faith.
Der Yeghiayan’s grandfather survived the genocide because he was
working in the U.S. Returning home, he found only one aunt, Varvar,
had survived the mass slaughter.
"He then went to the orphanages, searching for an orphan girl from
his village to marry. My grandmother was 17 and he was 35," Der
Yeghiayan said, "but she married him because they were from the same
village and she had no relatives left. They moved to Syria. The first
of their eight children was my father."
The couple told their 35 grandchildren stories of sacrifice, faith,
family and culture and taught them compassion and tolerance even
towards those harboring hatred, he recalled. Der Yeghiayan, 57, grew
up in Beirut, but spent summers with his grandparents in Syria.
His great-aunt, who lived to be 108, encouraged him to go to their
family’s ancient home, now in Turkey, a pilgrimage he finally made in
1987.
He climbed the steep, rocky hill to the fortress above the Euphrates
River. His ancestors were forced to make the same climb before being
thrown to their collective doom. He dipped his hands in the river that
had run red for three days with his people’s blood, performing a
ceremonial baptism honoring the martyrs.
In 1985, La Verne Mayor Jon Blickenstaff and his wife, Joan,
accompanied Der Yeghiayan to modern Armenia in what was then in the
Soviet bloc. They received "warm, welcoming red-carpet treatment
because of people’s respect for Garbis," Blickenstaff said.
"Garbis is beyond passionate in his quest for a better world," he
added. "He can’t find enough hours in the day to pursue his vision of
people getting along with each other."
His convictions are unbowed by bigotry or even loss of income when
benefactors withdrew support from Mashdots College, the Armenian
college in Glendale he founded in 1992, said Dr. Daniel Young, a
Rotarian and close friend.
Der Yeghiayan’s convictions were nurtured by his parents, Hagop and
Lydia. Their emphasis on education led Garbis and sister Knar to
careers in education, brother Samuel to a federal judgeship and
brother Joe to immigration law.
He and Angela, his wife of 34 years, also emphasize education with
their sons. Jimmy Paul is a sports medicine therapist and Johnny
Samuel is a youth pastor.
Der Yeghiayan was in his first year at the American University of
Beirut when his High School of Life principal asked him to return and
teach there.
"I said, `come on, I’m only 17,"’ Der Yeghiayan remembered saying,
laughing because some
of his students were 18 and he felt they wouldn’t listen to him. "He
said `they know and respect you. You won’t have any problems."’
And he didn’t.
He taught physics, chemistry and math. When he completed
a bachelor of arts in political science and public administration and
bachelor of science in educational administration at age 21, he was
appointed principal.
Der Yeghiayan, who speaks nine languages, has doctorates in
educational management from the University of La Verne and in human
development and social policy from Northwestern University.
He and Angela came to the U.S. in 1976 when he was named dean, at age
26, of the new American Armenian International College in La Verne.
He served as AAIC president from 1981 to 1992.
In 1990, he and La Verne Rotarians founded a Rotary club in Yerevan,
Armenia, the first behind the Iron Curtain. Echmiadzin, Armenia, is
La Verne’s sister city. In 2005, Der Yeghiayan and Erhan Ciftcioglu,
Rotary district governor in Turkey, co-organized the first peace
conference for Rotarians from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
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