Nancy Arabian

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in honor of her memory to Ararat Home of Los Angeles, Westside Guild
c/o Liliana Youssoufian 22409 S. Summit Ridge Circle, Chatsworth, CA 91311

Nancy was born on February 17, 1939 as the first child of Haig and Angel Megurian in Nicosia, Cyprus. As the United States entered World War ll, her
father, being a citizen, was called back to the United States without his family. In 1944, Nancy was able to come to America with her mother on an
American Warship called the William Rawle through New York Harbor. She was five years old. Her first view of America was of the Statue of Liberty.


The eldest of three children, Nancy grew up in Southern California. Her parents, Haig and Angel Megurian, were founding members of St. James
Armenian Church, where she and her siblings, Diana Hekimian, and her late brother, Greg Megurian, spent their earlier years.


Nancy was educated in the California school system. During high school, she was a member of the drill team and marched in the Rose Parade. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from California State University, Northridge in Art History. She was also an accomplished pianist.

On August 26, 1962, she married attorney Armand Arabian, who served on the Municipal and Superior Court, the Court of Appeal, and as the first
Armenian Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. Armand called Nancy "the wind under my wings." For advising him and helping victims of rape, Gloria Allred referred to her as an "Angel of California."


Nancy Arabian's life reflected a love for her church, her Armenian heritage and culture, and her dedication to public service. In 2001, she became the first
and only woman to ever receive the coveted Saint James the Apostle Medal, which was granted by Patriarch Torkom Manoogian in Jerusalem. For her many
volunteer efforts, she received the Saint Gregory Illuminator Medal. In 2003, Nancy and her husband were instrumental for the restoration of the
sixth century Saint Gayane Monastery in Armenia. During her 10th trip to Armenia, she was one of the assistants to his Holiness Karekin II for the
Holy Muron celebrations. In 2012, Nancy received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor on Ellis Island.


Nancy was a passionate volunteer and fundraiser. Her many volunteer activities included serving as president of the Hai Benefit Circle
(2006-2007) in Los Angeles; a long time board member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America and a
Godparent of the Saint Leon cathedral of the Western Diocese; a board member of the Westside Guild of the Ararat Home of Los Angeles; a member of the Saint Peter Armenian Church Ladies Society; a member of the Daughters of Vartan; and a board member of the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Affiliate of the Armenian International Women's Association (past Vice President).

For many years, Nancy actively supported the Los Angeles Philharmonic Committee, the National Charity League, and the San Fernando Valley Bar Association. She served as a board member for the Foundation of Children, and was an active fundraiser for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

Nancy passed away peacefully on July 21, 2016. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, the Honorable Armand Arabian, former Justice of the
California Supreme Court, her daughter Allison Demurjian, and her son Robert Arabian and daughter-in-law Jennifer Arabian. She is also survived by her sister Diana Hekimian, sister-in-law Maral Hairabedian, cousin Silva Kalfayan, her four grandchildren, Robert, Ashley, Nicole, and Thomas, and her nieces and nephews.

The family held a private service on July 28, 2016 at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California.


The Eulogy of Nancy Arabian
By Robert Arabian
07/28/2016

Honored guests and family members, thank you for being here today to celebrate the life of my mother Nancy Arabian. You are in this church with me because of your connection to her, by your blood, by your love, or by your loyalty and friendship to her or to my family.
Nancy was Born February 17, 1939 to Haig and Angel Megurian in Nicosia, Cyprus. She came to America at the age of 5 in 1944 on an American Warship called the William Rawle through NY Harbor. Her first view of America was the Statue of Liberty. She was the eldest of 3 children and grew up in Southern California. She married my father Armand in 1962 and together they raised Alley and I as good citizens of the world.

August 26th of this year would have been 56 years of marriage for mom and dad. They celebrated their 50th Wedding anniversary at Marc and Sandra Morton's house in Las Vegas, and mom had a great time. Sandra took us to the Beatle's Show where we celebrated the occasion with great company, dinner and music.

She survived her Brother Gregory Megurian, who met the Lord on March 14, 2012 and is survived by her Sister Diana Hekimian. She had 4 grandchildren, Robert Demurjian, Ashley Arabian, Nicole Demurjian and Thomas Arabian. Nancy passed into the hands of God on July 21, 2016.

Mom was an intelligent and talented person. She juggled raising Alley and I and finished college at CSU Northridge earning her bachelor's degree in Art History. I remember posing for photography projects and being schlepped to soccer practice, not truly understanding the sacrifices she made for us. Allison traveled to ballet lessons, tap dancing lessons and gymnastics. She always emphasized to us how important education was, and she did everything she could to get us to appreciate the arts. I'm probably one of the last kids to attend Cotillian.

Despite my objections, we almost never missed Sunday school at St. Peter's Church and were always positioned to participate in a play or a fashion show of her choosing. Yes, video exists somewhere of Allison starring in a church production of The Music Man, and many of you don't know I had a modeling career having walked a runway for Saks 5th Avenue. She blessed me with the affectionately known "Dutch Boy" bowl haircut, and Allison's wardrobe struggles were endless.
She was extremely artistic, musical and talented. I will never forget having a piano in the house and listening to her play "The Entertainer" on the piano (for those of you too young to know, the theme from the movie "The Sting".) It is an extremely complex piece and she would play it with her eyes closed and with no music in front of her. She played Fur Elise by Beethoven like a concert pianist. I was always amazed by her talent and to this day, as I try to teach myself how to play the piano, I cannot master the keys as she did. She introduced us to things like Evita, Cats; the Phantom of the Opera; Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and many classics from both Mozart and Beethoven. My affinity for music today comes from her.

As a kid I remembered countless framed scenes she made with an exacto knife and glue, known as Decopage. It was extremely detailed and time consuming but she had the concentration and patience to make masterpieces. Roses and floral bouquets adorned our home, and when the petals dried, she would make potpourri. Her food was equally impressive, with laborious dishes like Dolma or Monta, which required hours of labor. I remembered the kitchen looking like an I love Lucy episode with flour and stuff all over the place, but the meal was always one that "mom made."

She loved animals. Especially ones that weren't hers. Allison once brought home a cat she got from my Aunt Silva. Mom saw Allison with the cat, asked to hold it, and slowly walked down the hallway into her bedroom. It somehow became Nancy's cat and Alley got visitation privileges from that point forward.

Another time, the cat was pregnant and she built a birthing chamber in her bedroom. On delivery day, (I was here for this) with cats falling out everywhere and the two of us scooping them up cause the cat didn't want to birth them in the area mom had made, she ended up claiming one for herself. She took the pick of the litter and when asked by Alley why she picked the best one, she claimed it was her "birthing fee" and she giggled. We had dogs, cats, birds and fish, and we were taught to love God's little creatures. Speaking of fish, we had 2 Pihranas living in a large fish tank. It must have drove her insane because here were 2 flesh eating fish 20 feet from my bedroom, and I would always say I wanted to "pet the fish." One day, they left the door unlocked, and I piled up phone books so I could reach my hand in the aquarium. As I was just about to reach in, she caught me in the act and stopped the ensuing carnage. She was also my protector.

She had a simple fun side. Alley and I were remembering how we used to listen to a song by Paul McArtney, aftand his band "Wings at the Speed of Sound." The song is called "Silly Love Songs". She bought the 45 record and we must have played it hundreds of times while she danced and sang like nobody was watching her. The chorus of the song was simply "I Love You." We would watch I Love Lucy and the Carol Burnett show laughing out loud at the antics of Harvey Korman and Tim Conway. She loved to laugh.

She was the lady who loved all things European; who loved things that were classy and elegant. The lady who could cook a meal you can't replicate at a 5-star restaurant with leftovers for days cause she cooked for an army that didn't exist; The lady who cared more about what others thought of her than what reality was. Amote- Kezee was a phrase often heard when it came to doing something the way we wanted to, but not with her approval.

Yet I have photos of her on a camping trip at the King's River looking like she was one of the "people of Wal-Mart," living a simple lifestyle with a smile on her face because she was with her family.

She was not without her faults. She was material. She was stubborn. She was extremely loud when she wanted to be, and could dominate a conversation in a way that would drive you to insanity if you didn't agree with her. She could be judgmental. Occasionally, her hand may have met both my bottom and my face with speed unseen since Muhammad Ali moved like a butterfly and stung like a bee. She made life choices that, while fun and comforting, were not ones that would extend her life. She was human.

She had a true sense of how to be a mom and a wife. She taught Alley and I to be honest. She taught us to be thankful. She always found a way to make us happy as kids. She made sure we received a religious education, and all the sacraments of the church. She sacrificed her time, effort and energy for us. As crazy as she could drive my dad, she also knew how to make him happy and they loved each other deeply. She was fiercely proud of all my dad's accomplishments, standing next to him in support of each of his career and personal milestones. She was proud of her grandchildren and all they were becoming. She especially loved having 2 lawyers and a judge in the family, and ultimately a cop as well. Dad, Alley and I almost awarded her an honorary law degree and bar card a few years ago, as she would often offer us her "legal advice" no matter how far fetched it was.

Today, as I think about what she is doing right now, I have a pretty clear picture in my head. She is sitting at a table with my former next door neighbors Vanig and Margo Gaboudian, drinking Armenian Coffee, telling stories and laughing. She has hugged Angel and Haig; reunited with her brother Gregory, her Uncle Vartkes, John and Aghavnie Arabian and my auntie Takouie.

So I'll end by saying that mom and I had some significant disagreements over the years. The differences we had were divisive and were sometimes painful. But in the past few years as her mind became fuzzy, our differences seemed to fade away. As God took a piece of her mind, he also took her willingness to fight with me, and all I experienced with was her love. As the late Patrick Swayze said in the movie "Ghost," the love is real, and it lives on and on.

May She Rest in peace.