Cracking the Resilience Code
Talar Koushian’s personal triumph over a national tragedy
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Making Kindness Count
Daniel Nalbandian honors his parents’ legacy
I am honored to support both AGBU and my parents’ memory through this fund. There are so many Armenians in these places today who need the same assistance my parents once did, and I hope my annual gifts inspire others to do the same.
Talia Jebejian Bouldoukian, Edward Carreon
Daniel Nalbandian was one of eight children growing up during the 1940’s in Aleppo, Syria, in a home where kindness came first; his mother, Alice, volunteered regularly throughout the community. His father, Manuel, worked as a truck driver and chauffeur, often bringing home abundant bushels of fruits, olives and olive oil after long trips to farmlands. He then happily distributed them to family and friends, easing the burdens of families still struggling a few decades post-Armenian Genocide. He understood firsthand, as his and Alice’s families had been forced from their ancestral homes in Aintab (present day Gaziantep, Turkey).
Despite his father’s steady occupations, Nalbandian’s family relied on AGBU’s generosity at times for nourishment assistance. “This was my first connection to AGBU, and I still see it as the premier institution poised to reach all,” he said.
He received his primary education at local Armenian schools, but Alice wanted him to become a celibate priest, so he was sent to a religious Armenian school in Anjar, Lebanon, and the Mekhitarist Order in Venice, Italy. He then taught at an evangelical school in Lebanon, but knew a different path awaited. He recalls, “I had never envisioned America, yet someone arranged a travel visa for me rather quickly in 1970, so I decided this was where God wanted me to go. I arrived in Michigan with $50 in my pocket, but settled permanently in Southern California. I was offered a warehouse job at a nearby Ralph’s (supermarket chain), and remained there until my retirement,” continued Nalbandian.
In 1971, he met an Armenian couple at his evangelical church. They were very impressed with him and wondered if he would like to meet their daughter, Marjorie Sivas. They married and had two sons. Today, they enjoy spending time with their five granddaughters. All throughout, he never cast aside his devotion to his family back home, supporting them financially, and ensuring personally that his siblings and mother were able to join him in America. “I loved my father so much, but he became too weak to travel, and later died in Beirut,” laments Nalbandian.
For many years, Nalbandian would read the donor names in AGBU publications, promising himself that he would pay back many times over the generosity his family once received. And so, in 2023 he established the AGBU Daniel, Manuel, Alice, Jacqueline Nalbandian & Maral Nalbandian-Koushakjian Endowment in support of the AGBU Global Relief Fund for Armenians of Artsakh, Lebanon and Syria.
“I am honored to support both AGBU and my parents’ memory through this fund. There are so many Armenians in these places today who need the same assistance my parents once did, and I hope my annual gifts inspire others to do the same.” states Daniel Nalbandian.
November 20, 2024
