Saint Gregory remembers Kairene K. (Holasian) Arakelian
Kairene K. (Holasian) Arakelian
August 25, 1933 - September 22, 2026
Springfield, MA
Kairene K. (Holasian) Arakelian, 93, passed away peacefully on September 22, 2026, in the care and comfort of her home, surrounded by her loving family.
Born in Burgas, Bulgaria, on August 25, 1933, Kairene immigrated to the United States in 1976 and made Springfield her home for the past 50 years. She was a faithful and devoted member of St. Gregory Armenian Church in Indian Orchard, where she was actively involved with the Ladies Guild. Her church community and friends held a special place in her heart and were an important part of her life.
Kairene was an excellent cook who also enjoyed gardening and knitting. Above all, however, her greatest joy was her family, whom she cherished deeply. She leaves her sons, Mihran Arakelian and his wife Dee Dee of Somers, CT and Kevork Arakelian of Everett, WA and her granddaughter Karen Arakelian. She was predeceased by her parents, her husband Garabed Arakelian, her brother Garo Holasian and her sister Annik Holasian.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at St. Gregory Armenian Church, 135 Goodwin St., Indian Orchard, MA 01151.
A Calling Hour will be held from 10:00-11:00 a.m. followed by Mass at 11:00 a.m.
Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery in Springfield. Arrangements are entrusted to Nowak Funeral & Cremation Services.
Donations in lieu of flowers are gratefully accepted at St. Gregory Armenian Church, 135 Goodwin St, Indian Orchard, MA 01151.
https://saintgregoryarmenianchurch.org/donate-today
Saint Gregory remembers Dorothy Piligian
Dorothy Piligian
June 28, 1927 - September 16, 2026
Needham, MA
Dorothy (Vartanian) Piligian of Needham passed away peacefully on September 16, 2026, at the age of 99 in the home that she loved. Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Murad; brother Leo; sister-in-law, Elizabeth; and daughter Diane. Devoted mother of Margaret Fuller and her husband James, Richard Piligian and his wife Kelli, Nancy Barmakian and her husband Edward. Cherished grandmother of Alexandra, Stephanie (Matthew), Stephen (Kelsey) and Sarah.
She was born in Indian Orchard, MA to Seranoosh and Nigohos Vartanian. After high school she worked for the telephone company. The first years of her marriage were spent in Worcester, MA while her husband attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After graduation they moved to Arlington, VA for Murad’s work where they started their family and built lifelong friendships in the community.
They moved back to Needham, MA in 1956, to be close to family. Dot went on to work at General Binding Corporation and Cullinet Software Corporation. She volunteered at schools, even starting Armenian classes at the local elementary school, volunteered for Meals on Wheels and was an active member of a number of Armenian organizations.
Dot reigned supreme over her favorite pastimes, from her talent for making hand-knit dishcloths, her skill with 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles, card games, Bingo and her unbeatable luck with scratch tickets, to her endless love for Boston sports, especially her beloved Celtics.
She will be remembered for her warm hospitality, her baking, cooking, and friendships.
Funeral service at Saint James Armenian Church, 465 Mount Auburn Street, Watertown on Tuesday, September 22 at 11:00 am.
Visiting hours at church on Tuesday morning from 10:00-11:00, immediately prior to the funeral service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to
St Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 38 Elton Avenue, Watertown MA, 02472
https://soorpstepanos.org/giving/
or
St. Gregory Armenian Apostolic Church, 135 Goodwin Street, Indian Orchard, MA 01151.
https://saintgregoryarmenianchurch.org/donate-today
Interment at Needham Cemetery, Needham, MA.
https://www.currentobituary.com/member/obit/302784
Saint Gregory remembers Asadour Santourian
Asadour Santourian
April 15, 1958 - August 18, 2026
Talent, Oregon
Asadour Santourian passed away peacefully at home in Talent, Oregon, on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, following a brave and mostly private battle with cancer.
Born April 15, 1958, in Beirut, Lebanon, Asadour Santourian moved to the United States with his family in 1969, settling in Springfield, MA. A polio survivor, he showed musical promise and passion at a young age, which eventually led him to his first forays in orchestral management at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and soon after the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and Boston Mozarteum Chamber Orchestra.
Santourian shaped the music world during his forty-year career by curating thousands of concerts across classical genres, supporting nearly a hundred commissions and premieres of new works, and offering debuts to artists and mentorship to countless musicians, composers, and colleagues. From 1991 to 2000, he served as the Minnesota Orchestra's director of artistic planning, then as artistic director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from 2001 to 2003. As vice president for artistic administration for the Aspen Music Festival and School from 2003 to 2022, he influenced a generation of young musicians and elevated the summer festival's artistic standing, garnering international recognition. Santourian most recently served as artistic advisor to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and as interim executive director of the Rogue Valley Symphony after working briefly as vice president for Tanglewood Music Center and Learning for the Boston Symphony.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Santourian was truly the finest of people, who enriched the lives of those around him with his brilliant presence. While private and intellectual, with rooms of well-worn books, scores, and recordings to prove it, he loved nothing more than an excuse to celebrate with others. He had an enormous appetite for travel, art, books, good company, hearing new artists, and seeing new productions. He also loved solitary walks in nature, which he called "his constitutionals." His passion for great singers left no genre unturned. He was as likely to quote a Puccini heroine as Celine Dion-note for note. Asadour was a trusted confidante, a keen observer, a champion of others' accomplishments, a tough debater but willing to stand corrected, generous, deeply spiritual, fiercely loyal, hilariously funny to those who appreciated his humor, and a gentleman and a scholar in the best sense.
Asadour Santourian is preceded in death by his beloved parents, his father Sarkis (d. 2008) and his mother Sara (d. 2015), and survived by his two brothers, Taniel and his wife, Nora, and nephews Shant and Raffi of Wilbraham, Massachusetts, and Hrayr and his wife Armine and nephews Sevan, Haig, and Tahleen of Kingman, Arizona; also godchildren Chiara Haefliger of London, Samuel and Orlando Christian of Los Angeles, and Shant and Raffi, also his nephews.
Memorial services for Asadour Santourian will be held on Friday, September 18, at 3:00 PM at St. Gregory Armenian Church, located at 135 Goodwin Street, Indian Orchard, MA. A private burial service will follow on Saturday. Gifts in his honor can be made to the Armenian Tree Project and to the Aspen Music Festival Commissioning Fund in honor of Asadour Santourian.
https://pro.gofundme.com/give/385989#!/donation/checkout
Donations in lieu of flowers are gratefully accepted at St. Gregory Armenian Church, 135 Goodwin St, Indian Orchard, MA 01151.
https://saintgregoryarmenianchurch.org/donate-today
https://obits.masslive.com/us/obituaries/masslive/name/asadour-santourian-obituary?id=62433293
