REV. GDANIAN CELEBRATES 60 YEARS
By Dave Canfield
Troy Record
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May 18 2009
WATERVLIET – When Charlotte Sevazlian, a lifelong member of St. Peter
Armenian Church, was married many years back, the church’s father
gave a sermon during the service. In speaking, Father Garen Gdanian
seemed to know everything about her.
"He knew more about me than I knew about me," said Sevazlian, who
now chairs the church’s women’s guild.
But that came as no surprise to her. That’s the kind of spiritual
leader the priest, now 84, is. But he’s more than that, she said. "He’s
not just a spiritual leader; he’s a friend, too. He cares about
his people."
Gdanian led the church for 19 years before retiring in 1989. Born in
Syria and educated in Jerusalem, Beirut and Cambridge, Mass., he has
remained in the Capital District since retirement and is still active
in the church he helped grow over the years.
On Sunday, at least 200 members filled the auditorium named for him
in the church, on Troy Schenectady Road, to honor his 60 years of
service to the Armenian diocese.
Gdanian now holds the title of pastor emeritus at the church. Since
retirement, he still travels on behalf of the diocese and always
participates at St. Peter when in town. He has even filled in and
performed the entire Sunday service if the man holding his old role –
currently Father Bedros Kadehjian – is unavailable, Sevazlian said.
"He’s very active," she said. "He’s on the altar every Sunday when
he’s with us."
"He still serves us," seconded Paul DerOhannesian, another lifelong
member who first met Gdanian when he made a visit to the church before
becoming its pastor. "That is certainly a luxury for this parish, and
I think it’s one of the reasons we’ve been as successful as we are."
St. Peter was located on Fifth Avenue in Troy when Gdanian arrived
in 1970 after serving in Massachusetts and New York City. He joined
a church in transition: it moved across the Hudson to its current
location, on a quiet hilltop surrounded by trees and hidden from the
road, the same year.
Gdanian described his years with the diocese as quite a journey,
and said his initial involvement upon arriving in the U.S. benefited
from a clash of cultures.
"It’s never easy, but we survived," he said. "Sixty years is not a
small thing. I learned a lot. When you are from overseas, you have
to learn things."
Many of those lessons learned are detailed in a collection of short
essays Gdanian has written, called "My Joys and Sorrows as a Parish
Priest." One of several books he has published, it details his humble,
earthly demeanor and his concern for those facing problems.
His respect for all people is apparent. In a story discussing how he
and other clergy would meet in a room donated by Samaritan Hospital
in the psychiatric ward, he described the patients: "The patients
there were harmless and on medication. They would walk around and
continuously talk. Some of them expressed wiser opinions than those
who were supposed to be sane."
When Sevazlian was a child, she said the pastor would often attend
meetings of the church’s youth groups and express his interest.
"He was a guiding light through my teen years," she said.
DerOhannesian said the man honored Sunday is not much different than
the man who visited the Fifth Avenue church many years ago.
"He’s the embodiment of the spiritual pastor, a priest who tends to
the needs of families," he said.