Obituary: Late Sirvard Kurdian

It is with deep sorrow that

the Kurdian and Altounian families

Announce the passing of their beloved Mother, Grandmother and Great-Grandmother

SIRVARD KURDIAN

1912 (Erzerum) – October 27, 2018

The Funeral Service will take place at the Holy Trinity Armenian Church920 Progress Avenue, Toronto, ON. M1G 3T5

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Visitation: 10:30 AM

Funeral Service at 11:00 AM

Followed by interment at York Cemetery – Section 3 lot #29160 Beecroft Rd., Toronto, ON M2N 5Z5

Coffee and refreshments will followat lower level of Holy Trinity Armenian Church

The 40th Day Requiem Service will be held on Sunday, December 2, 2018 at the Holy Trinity Armenian Church

The Rev. Archpriest Fr. Zareh Zargarian and the Parish Council extend their condolences to family members and ask faithful parishioners to pray for the departed soul of the late Sirvard Kurdian.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Holy Trinity Armenian Church or the Humanitarian FundTel: 416-431-3001

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GENOCIDE SURVIVOR SIRVARD KURDIAN IS NO MORESirvard Kirishjian Kurdian, one of the last survivors of the Armenian Genocide, passed away peacefully at the age of 106, on Saturday, October 27, north of Toronto.Born in Garin (Erzerum) in August 1912, Sirvard survived the deportation to Mosul with her mother and eldest sister, having lost all other family members. After the end of World War I the small family moved to Aleppo, where young Sirvard was placed in several orphanages in order to survive. Later, through the assistance of the newly formed association of Erzerum Armenians, she was able to attend the Guiligian School. There, during a cultural event, her emotional rendition of Daniel Varoujan’s “The Red Earth” (Կարմիր Հողը) caught the attention of the school benefactor, Missak Azirian, whereupon he sponsored the young student until her graduation at the age of fourteen.At fifteen she married another orphan from Erzerum, Khachig Kurdian. The couple had four children. In the 1960’s they moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where Khachig died in 1974. Sirvard moved to Canada in 1991 and settled north of Toronto with her family.Until the age of 103, Sirvard created numerous crochet covers for the altars and chalices for twenty Armenian churches in Toronto, Armenia and Artsakh. She was also an excellent cook, very well versed in traditional Armenian cuisine. Sirvard will be dearly missed by her family and friends, whose lives she touched with her selflessness, generosity, patience, and immense love and affection. She is survived by her four children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.