Memories of Noland inspire embattled Armenian family
By By RON BAIN The Daily Sentinel
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO
March 12 2005
Saturday, March 12, 2005
RIDGWAY – Tearful memories of Vietnam War veteran, adoptive father
and homebuilder Max Noland permeated Friday’s memorial service held
in his honor after his accidental death Monday, when he fell from
the roof of a home he was building in Purgatory.
Noland had been fighting for six years alongside his wife, Nvart
Sargsyan, and his adopted sons, Gevorg, Hayk and Joseph Sargsyan,
against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which
sought to deport the brothers and four other family members to their
homeland of Armenia.
Family friend Peter Whiskeman told the approximately 125 people
gathered at Ridgway Community Church on Friday that Hayk had just
been accepted to the University of Colorado, where he hopes to join
his brother Gevorg next fall if they are not deported.
Gevorg is studying to be a writer at CU.
“Max told me, ‘You’re a good writer. You write about heart. You truly
write from your heart,’ ” Gevorg told the mourning crowd. “I will
just not write anything until the time comes. It shall come out at
the time you need it.”
Noland escorted Gevorg to school and stayed with him every day for
weeks in the ninth grade, when “I couldn’t speak a word of English,”
the adopted son said. “He wouldn’t say much. Only when he talked,
you knew exactly what he was talking about. I’d always argue with him.
He’d be arguing with me without trying to hurt me in any way.
“I’ve come to the point of understanding the situation,” Gevorg said
of Noland’s death. “When I found out, I was so mad at first. I think
he left a hole in our hearts.”
Noland’s youngest adopted son, Joseph, pointed to one of many
photographs Noland had taken, and said, “That was his favorite.”
Whiskeman agreed that Noland’s “photography was beautiful.” Noland’s
scenic photos of rural Ouray County lined the walls of the community
church where the memorial service was held.
“I began to wonder if there was nothing that Max couldn’t do and do
well,” he said.
Whiskeman organized a fund-raising dinner in Ridgway after Immigration
Services last year jailed four members of the Sargsyan family who
voluntarily reported to Denver. Nvart’s father, Ruben, Gevorg, Hayk
and sister Meri were detained in Denver for weeks before appeals
freed them temporarily.
But they continue to face the threat of deportation.
Noland married Nvart in 1999 after she divorced an American man the
Sargsyan family claims defrauded Armenians who were trying to obtain
U.S. visas. Noland adopted her sons and introduced them to life in
Ridgway, and they sought special visas for immigrants who have been
victimized by human trafficking or violence, or who would be injured
if deported home.
The Sargsyan’s plight has resonated in Ouray County, where residents
raised more than $30,000 for the family’s legal defense and sent
hundreds of letters and e-mail messages to immigration officials,
asking them to reconsider the case and allow the family to stay.