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Fresno Bee , CA
Feb 1 2007
Zabelle Goorabian leaves Fresno with a legacy of giving
By Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee02/01/07 05:10:32
A family graveside service for longtime Fresno benefactor Zabelle
Karahadian Goorabian will be held Friday, followed at 11 a.m. by a
memorial service and luncheon at Pilgrim Armenian Congregational
Church.
Mrs. Goorabian gave her energies and financial support for decades to
Fresno religious, cultural and athletic projects. She died Friday, at
90, from effects of a stroke she suffered last year.
She and her late husband, Harry, supported the Fresno Philharmonic,
the Fresno Metropolitan Museum and Fresno Art Museum. They
established the Goorabian Family Life Center at Pilgrim Armenian
Congregational Church.
Harry "Har" Goorabian died in 1997. The couple founded Mid Valley
Distributors in Fresno, which became a dominant Central California
wholesaler of nuts, bolts and fasteners.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Goorabian saw to it that the city of
Fresno, Riverpark Little League and young Fresnans in general could
enjoy Harry Goorabian Park in north Fresno.
Mrs. Goorabian was born in Fresno. She graduated from Roosevelt High
School and Fresno State College. She joined the business office of
the Karahadian family's raisin packing company.
Mrs. Goorabian became an active supporter of the California Armenian
Home.
The Rev. Roger Minassian, former pastor of Pilgrim Armenian
Congregational Church, worked with Mrs. Goorabian, who had no
children, to establish the Goorabian Family Life Center there.
"She was a person of giving," Minassian said. "She had compassion for
the young."
Nephew Dr. Edward Karahadian III, a Fresno dentist, called his aunt
"a very dignified, modern woman for someone born to an ethnic family
in 1916. She and my uncle had an epic love affair, a wonderful life
together. She became my second mother and the matriarch of our clan."
Landscape architect Robert Boro worked with Mrs. Goorabian at the
California Armenian Home and the Goorabian ballpark.
"She was fun-loving," Boro said. "She enjoyed all those projects, and
took a personal interest."
Niece Allison Karahadian called her aunt a great listener who was
"easy to love." She taught by example at holiday and Sunday night
dinners, and around the kitchen sink afterward, that "this is
family," Karahadian said.
The family requests that any remembrance be sent to the California
Armenian Home, Children's Hospital Central California or Hope Now for
Youth.
Feb 1 2007
Zabelle Goorabian leaves Fresno with a legacy of giving
By Jim Steinberg / The Fresno Bee02/01/07 05:10:32
A family graveside service for longtime Fresno benefactor Zabelle
Karahadian Goorabian will be held Friday, followed at 11 a.m. by a
memorial service and luncheon at Pilgrim Armenian Congregational
Church.
Mrs. Goorabian gave her energies and financial support for decades to
Fresno religious, cultural and athletic projects. She died Friday, at
90, from effects of a stroke she suffered last year.
She and her late husband, Harry, supported the Fresno Philharmonic,
the Fresno Metropolitan Museum and Fresno Art Museum. They
established the Goorabian Family Life Center at Pilgrim Armenian
Congregational Church.
Harry "Har" Goorabian died in 1997. The couple founded Mid Valley
Distributors in Fresno, which became a dominant Central California
wholesaler of nuts, bolts and fasteners.
After her husband's death, Mrs. Goorabian saw to it that the city of
Fresno, Riverpark Little League and young Fresnans in general could
enjoy Harry Goorabian Park in north Fresno.
Mrs. Goorabian was born in Fresno. She graduated from Roosevelt High
School and Fresno State College. She joined the business office of
the Karahadian family's raisin packing company.
Mrs. Goorabian became an active supporter of the California Armenian
Home.
The Rev. Roger Minassian, former pastor of Pilgrim Armenian
Congregational Church, worked with Mrs. Goorabian, who had no
children, to establish the Goorabian Family Life Center there.
"She was a person of giving," Minassian said. "She had compassion for
the young."
Nephew Dr. Edward Karahadian III, a Fresno dentist, called his aunt
"a very dignified, modern woman for someone born to an ethnic family
in 1916. She and my uncle had an epic love affair, a wonderful life
together. She became my second mother and the matriarch of our clan."
Landscape architect Robert Boro worked with Mrs. Goorabian at the
California Armenian Home and the Goorabian ballpark.
"She was fun-loving," Boro said. "She enjoyed all those projects, and
took a personal interest."
Niece Allison Karahadian called her aunt a great listener who was
"easy to love." She taught by example at holiday and Sunday night
dinners, and around the kitchen sink afterward, that "this is
family," Karahadian said.
The family requests that any remembrance be sent to the California
Armenian Home, Children's Hospital Central California or Hope Now for
Youth.