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Tributes to John Baronian
 The following is the letter sent to Prelate Oshagan
Choloyan on the passing of John Baronian:
Dear Srpazan,
I received the news of the passing of Mr. John Baronian with
great sadness and wish to extend my heartfelt words of
sympathy to his family and to you and the faithful of the
Eastern Prelacy to which John was deeply attached for many
years, and was, indeed, one of the Pillars of the Prelacy.
John was the embodiment of that generation of
Armenian-Americans who kept alive the heritage of their
parents and ancestors, while making significant
contributions to American society. John was a dedicated
Armenian and was honored by the Catholicosate with the
Knight of Cilicia insignia. He was also honored by your
National Representative Assembly in 2002 as the Man of the
Year. As a trustee of Tufts University in Massachusetts, he
was a dedicated supporter of that institution of higher
learning and he was eager that the same opportunity he had
as a child of survivors of the Armenian Genocide would be
available to deserving students today. His untiring work for
Tufts earned him an honorary doctorate as well as other
honors.
Please extend condolences on behalf of the Armenian
Catholicosate of Cilicia to the Baronian and Aftandilian
families, the faithful of St. Stephen’s Church in Watertown,
and the entire Eastern Prelacy family.
May his memory shine forth always.
Prayerfully,
Aram I
Catholicos of Cilicia
***
My condolences to the whole tufts family, to the Armenian
community of Boston, and to all those who had come in touch
with the vibrant person who was John Baronian.
John will certainly be missed. But he has left us with our
good memories of him, his energy, his endless network of
contacts, his incredible memory, his devotion to all things
Armenian and all things Tufts, and his clear stamp on the
life of the Armenian community of New England over this half
century.
We were lucky to know him and to have him as an example for
us all.
Vartan Oskanian
Former Foreign Minister of Armenia
***
It was with deep sadness that we learned of the passing of
John Baronian.
John was a role model to generations of Armenian-Americans
with his commitment, compassion, selflessness, and
integrity.
The pages of the Hairenik Weekly and the Armenian Weekly are
filled with memories of John and the unique writing and
pictures that he brought to thousands of readers.
May generations to come live up to his expectations and the
standards he set.
And, may you find comfort in his enormous contribution to
the Armenian nation.
Sincerely,
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Greater Boston Sardarabad Committee
***
...It is not an end of a man; it is an end of an era, of a
legend. But that is what makes people like John different:
When they pass away, they stay with us, since a legend
cannot disappear, and an era cannot be forgotten.
As early as this month, we will plant 10 new trees in
Armenia in name of Joh Baronian. We think these shall be
apricot trees, since he was as Armenian as the prunus
Armenicus (latin name of apricot). And we promise to
regularly send you dried apricots from those trees.
Vigen Sargsyan (Fletcher 2000)
Lusine Sargsyan-Galadjian (Fletcher 2003)
***
John Baronian was a man who actually made like better for
his community, his beloved university, Tufts, and for every
activity he touched—and there were so many. He brought joy
to others in the process. He did good and important things
and was beloved by all. John was our better angel.
Leslie Gelb
President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations
***
Tufts University has 92,000 alumni worldwide, but there was
none who was more proud of his alma mater or more loyal to
the institution than John Baronian. Known by generations of
students as “Mister Tufts,” John was a constant presence on
our campus. As president, I sat next to him at virtually
every Tufts football game I ever attended. A great football
player himself during his time as a student, he continued to
be an astute observer and student of the game.
John served the university in many capacities—as a trustee,
as an overseer of our athletics department, as president of
the Alumni Association, as the founder of the Jumbo Club,
and as the founder of the Armenian Club. The university
honored him with its highest recognition, an honorary degree
in 1997 and his teammates and classmates helped to build a
fieldhouse named in his honor.
Adele and I enjoyed attending a reception hosted by John
every year during Parents’ Weekend for parents of Armenian
students. John would also frequently stop by our house to
drop off treats from the Eastern Lamajun Bakery. He was an
incredibly kind, generous, and thoughtful man. John helped
literally hundreds of Tufts graduates to establish their
careers. He made calls on their behalf to his many friends
to help them land jobs; he helped them get into graduate
school; and he would not hesitate to use his many business
contacts to help a Tufts alumnus.
The world would be a better place if we had more John
Baronians. The Tufts family mourns his loss together with
the entire Armenian community. We were lucky to count him as
our friend and colleague.
Lawrence S. Bacow
President, Tufts University
***
John Baronian devoted his life to Tufts University and will
go down in Tufts history as a legend. The Tufts turnout at
his wake and funeral was a testament to how much he was
loved and the impact he had. As a trustee and in so many
other capacities, he served his alma mater as few alumni of
any institution have. We all remember fondly the thousands
of elephant pins he handed out whenever he met a fellow
Jumbo, and the collection of elephants of all sizes and
materials he donated to the University—perhaps the most
extensive collection ever assembled.
John cared deeply about students and athletics at Tufts.
Just days before his death, and following a difficult
operation, he took the time to call me to inquire about a
student, and he chatted energetically about a wide range of
issues. To live life to the fullest in this way is an
inspiration to us all.
The day I arrived at Tufts six years ago, he welcomed me
enthusiastically and stopped by the house to drop off an
elephant pin and a copy of an article. The article was about
Armenians in India. I immediately recognized one of the
people featured: Nuvart (Parseghian) Mehta. She was a good
friend of my parents’ in Bombay. What I didn’t know until
John pointed it out is that she had graduated from the
Fletcher School at Tufts University in one of the first
classes in the 1930’s after the school was founded. She
moved to India with the United States Information Agency,
married a Parsi, and spent the rest of her life there.
Recently, on a Tufts trip to India, I knocked on her door,
introduced myself, and we honored her at a dinner with our
delegation.
All because of John Baronian. He brought people together and
kept them together.
Jamshed Bharucha
Provost and Senior Vice President, Tufts University
***
On behalf of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at
Tufts University, I would like to join so many others in
expressing our sadness as we mourn John’s passing. John was
an invaluable part of our community. We will miss him for
his devotion, intellectual courage, and example of
commitment and caring.
Stephen W. Bosworth
Dean, The Fletcher School
***
It is not difficult to recall back to memory the first Tufts
alumnus I was formally introduced to in the fall of 2001
when I began a new job in the Tufts Office of Alumni
Relations. It was John Baronian. In just a short couple of
minutes during our first conversation, John extracted enough
information to make a vast network of connections between
our lives and identified many people whom we both knew
mutually. John had a knack for that. Over the years, he
would visit Alumni House on many occasions to advocate for
Tufts issues that he cared deeply about. You could almost
set your watch by his daily visit and rare was the occasion
when he was not delivering edible treats from the trunk of
his gold Cadillac to share with the staff and students. In
later years, when walking up the steep Alumni House driveway
became more difficult, John would summon someone to visit
him with a friendly horn blast from his car, and on most
days, I would be the one to come outdoors to chat and learn
about what was on John’s mind. We called it “curbside
service for JB,” and over time I grew to appreciate this
opportunity as a welcome diversion from the routine business
in front of my computer screen. After all, this kind of
personal interaction is the foundation of alumni relations
and John was just the kind of involved alum we worked extra
hard to keep happy. With his passing, Tufts has lost a
remarkable ambassador, but his legacy will endure through
those who absorbed a particular pride and passion for a
school, for which he showed a lifetime of love and respect.
Jonathan Burton
Tufts University Advancement Staff
***
John Baronian, the godfather, the father, the brother, the
uncle, and the friend is gone! As I sit here in my solitude
and reflect upon the past, the family gatherings in which
you have included me, the image of John at the entrance of
the Symphony Hall waiting to hand out the tickets to his
friends, and the various things that John said and did keep
replaying in my mind. His departure creates an exceptional
vacuum and a wound.
John Baronian made it his life’s bequest to cross path with
those that he could help. He found such people and pushed
forward with intensity to advance their cause. He never
failed to introduce his friends to one another, all in the
desire to facilitate a means for their greater progress and
camaraderie.
How could John have a family of his own? He could not. He
had adopted a whole host of individuals from various creeds
that filled his life. He had a silent oath of duty that
committed him to his family and friends. His devotion to
others was so great that he ignored the necessities of his
own life.
John Baronian was one of a kind. There never was, and there
never will be another person like him. Just a very casual
encounter brought me close to John and his family. And what
a privilege it has been!
Please accept my condolences. I am sharing your grief as I
write. My heart is tight, and my feelings are shattered.
John’s spirit rests in peace. His life of love and devotion
left him with no regret.
His legend will live forever.
Leila Assadi
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