Robert Aram Kaloosdian age 93 of Belmont, Massachusetts passed away on May 12, 2024. He was the beloved husband of Marianne (Voynick). Devoted father of Paul and his partner Carl Johnson, Lori and her husband Roland Pease, Sonia and her husband Brian Hale. Cherished grandfather of Marianna and Nathaniel Pease, Alexandra, Julia and Emily Hale. Adored great-grandfather Ava. Born October 29, 1930, he was the son of the late Paul and Grace Kaloosdian and brother of the late Knarig Shrader.
Aram grew up in Watertown in the Armenian diaspora of the 1930s and 1940s, where he cultivated lifelong roots and became a leader in Armenian community affairs. A graduate of Clark University and Boston University Law School, Aram practiced law for more than 50 years. He aided the team defending a school curriculum guide against Genocide deniers in federal court. His life was devoted to the recognition and study of the Armenian Genocide.
Aram was the founding chairman of the Armenian National Institute and a founder of the Armenian Assembly of America. His decades of leadership ultimately impacted the U.S. government when in 2019, President Biden officially declared the killing of one million Armenians in what is now Turkey, a genocide.
Aram was the author of Tadem, My Father's Village: Extinguished during the 1915 Armenian Genocide, published one hundred years after the Armenian Genocide.
Aram was a veteran of the U.S. Army, Korean Conflict.
Funeral Service at Saint Stephen's Armenian Church, 38 Elton Avenue, Watertown, on Thursday, May 16, at 11:00 a.m. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. Visiting Hours will be held at Saint Stephen's Armenian Church, on Thursday morning, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m., immediately prior to the Funeral Service. At the request of the family, cemetery services will be private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to Saint Stephen's Armenian Church, Armenian Assembly of America, Washington, D.C. or Armenia Tree Project, Woburn, MA