RESOLUTION HONORING HELEN KHERDIAN PALOIAN, COURAGEOUS SUVIVOR OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
AND OLDEST PARISHIONER OF ST. GREGORY THE ILLUMINATOR ARMENIAN CHURCH
WHEREAS, Helen was born in May of 1906 to Krikor and Mariam Kherdian in the village of Khulakugh in the western Armenian province of Kharpert; and
WHEREAS, Helen, whose Armenian name is Yeghinar, had three brothers, Khachadur, Khosrov and Ghazar, who treasured their sister; and
WHEREAS, Helen was orphaned at an early age and taken in by a kind lady and put in an orphanage where she lived until the end of World War I; and
WHEREAS, after WWI, Helen was entrusted to the care of Maria Jacobsen, a compassionate Danish missionary nurse who saved the lives of countless orphans of Khapert; and
WHEREAS, Helen then began an arduous and amazing journey, making her way through Syria, Lebanon, Greece, Cuba and then on to America in 1926; and
WHEREAS, Helen was brought to America by her cousin Jacob Hardy (Kherdian), who had arrived in America in 1913 and when convalescing from war wounds had a dream leading him to his cousin Helen, "the Rose"; and
WHEREAS, Jacob was instrumental in bringing Helen to America, after telling the authorities that she was his sister, and she is surely the sister of his heart; and
WHEREAS, Helen, whose arranged marriage to Zadig Paloian allowed her to come to America, then found true love with this wonderful man whom she married in Racine, Wisconsin on January 9, 1927; and
WHEREAS, Helen and Zadig raised a loving family of four children: Sia Lillian, Mariam, Lucille and Matthew; and
WHEREAS, Helen survived immeasurable heartache and grief, losing her brothers Khachadur and Khosrov in the Genocide, yet going on to become a source of strength and admiration for so many; and
WHEREAS, Helen will be honored on October 20, 2013, as a courageous
survivor of the Great Crime and the oldest parishioner of St. Gregory the Illumir^atp^--|Q ^ j jq
Armenian Church; and -,j 5 j o -j f \! -! J, Q
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