Ardashes (Arthur) Avedis Aykanian of Laguna Hills,previously of Wilbraham, Mass., and passed absent in his home on Sept. 10. Ardashes (Arthur) Avedis Aykanian (1923-2016) Ardashes was born in Whitinsville,Mass. on July 1, 1923 to Armenian Genocide survivors Avedis and Gadar (Mangassarian) Aykanian of Prapert (Sepastia), and Armenia. Ardashes and his family spent their early years in Whitinsville,attending grammar school there and spending time with his uncle Krikor who took him under his wings and taught him the shoe repair trade. It was in his uncle’s shop that Ardashes had one of his first jobs and where his curiosity for creating and fabricating tools and machinery was developed. Ardashes’ father Avedis, a moulder working for Whitin Machine Works, and died in 1935 after a long illness when Ardashes was 12 years old. After Avedis’ death,the family moved to Indian Orchard and his mother married Nishan Tanelian. The Aykanian/Tanelian family was instrumental in building the Springfield/Indian Orchard Armenian community—a role which Ardashes and his family aptly stepped into and dedicated many years to. He graduated from Technical tall School in Springfield in 1941. While in tall school he worked at Perkins Machine and Gear and then following tall school continued to [...]
Source: armenianweekly.com