Hazerjian, Margaret (Barsamian) of West Roxbury, age 91, April 13, 2026.
Beloved wife of the late Kevork (George) Hazerjian, to whom she was married 50 years. Devoted mother of Maryanne Borzakian and her husband Robert, Margaret Markarian and her husband Richard, George G. Hazerjian and Michael Hazerjian. Loving grandmother of Rebecca and Peter Markarian, and Jeremy and Joshua Hazerjian. Sister of the late Catherine Krikorian. Former mother-in-law of Cynthia Hazerjian.
Sister-in-law of Lucy Hazerjian and her late husband Jack. Also sister-in-law to the late Minas and Doris Hazerjian, Marion and James Ashjian, and Moey Krikorian. Also survived by many loving nieces, nephews, and dear family friends.
Funeral services at Saint Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 38 Elton Avenue, Watertown on Tuesday, April 21 at 12 noon. Visiting hours will be held at church on Tuesday morning from 11am – 12 noon, immediately prior to the funeral service. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the above-named church. Interment at Mount Auburn Cemetery, Cambridge.
Margaret “Peggy” Hazerjian was a lifelong resident of Boston. Born in 1934, Peggy was the proud daughter of Armenian immigrant parents, Sarkis and Maritza Barsamian. She grew up with her older sister “Kay” on a small, narrow street in the South End in a tight-knit community of Armenian, Syrian, and Lebanese families. In fact, the street was so narrow that a neighbor across the way could easily “babysit” from an open window on the other side of the street. Education was very important in the Barsamian household, and Peggy excelled in school – she was an avid reader, enjoyed reciting poems, and cherished being gifted her very own set of encyclopedias. She was a top graduate of both Girls’ High School (1952) and Boston State Teachers College (1956).
During her teen years when her pharmacist father opened his own drug store in South Boston, the family moved to Andrew Square. From then on, Peggy could often be found after school and on weekends with her sister Kay welcoming customers into Vale Drug Store, ringing orders at the register, and scooping ice cream or making milk shakes behind the counter.
The move to South Boston also led to Peggy joining the South Boston chapter of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), where she made girlfriends who remained dear for the rest of her life. It’s also where Peggy caught the eye of her future husband George P. Hazerjian. Indeed, when 21-year-old George saw a picture of 16-year-old Peggy, the chairperson of the chapter’s education committee, holding a recently won trophy, he was smitten.
He asked, “Who’s that girl holding the trophy?” and wondered, “How could there possibly be an Armenian girl from South Boston I don’t know?” Thus began, George’s persistent 5-year effort to win his beloved “Margaret” over -- she did not make it easy for him. Initially thinking him a bit too old and too serious, she evaded him by hiding behind poles at Armenian dances, asking family members to say she was at the library or washing her hair when he called, and having her mother answer the door when he came by with flowers. These actions only made young George more determined. And ultimately, Peggy came to appreciate George’s sincere ardor and invited him to a formal college dance during her junior year. Soon enough, the two of them were in love, engaged, and married in August of 1956. They enjoyed a long, loving, and devoted 50-year marriage that produced two daughters, Maryanne and Margie, and two sons, George and Michael. In 2006, they were both thrilled and honored to be guests at Boston Mayor Menino’s Golden Anniversary Party at the Parker House for Boston couples who reached the 50-year milestone.
During the early years of her marriage, Peggy lived in a triple decker in Uphams Corner, Dorchester, within close proximity to the Hazerjian clan, as well as her own parents and sister’s family in South Boston. Here, Peggy became “Mom” to two little girls, as well as “Aunty Peggy” to a spurt of wonderful nieces and nephews -- there was Arleen and Gary upstairs. Jack, Stephanie, George, and Aram across the street, with Amy a number of years later. Stephen, David, and LuAnn a few streets over. Linda, Cathy, Mary, and Eddy on Dorchester Avenue in South Boston. These years also marked the start of Peggy’s long and illustrious reign as a warm, gracious, organized, and tireless hostess of birthday parties, christenings, holiday meals, and other special events, where the food was delicious, plentiful, and made with love. Her hostess extraordinaire skills continued to expand when George surprised Peggy with the purchase of a storybook brick English Tudor-style home in West Roxbury, where she lived happily for 65 years until her passing.
No matter where Peggy lived, she made lifetime friends easily and West Roxbury was no exception. Her friendship with neighbor Mary Costello began almost immediately, when Mary, a young mother with newborn twins and three young kids ages 2, 4, & 6 years, invited “Peg” to bring her little girls, ages, 2 & 4 years, over to play and have a cup of coffee. Thus began, countless coffee hours in each other’s kitchens, at Pewter Pot, and Friendly’s.
Peggy’s life story cannot be told without mentioning her love of coffee. Her passion for coffee started young when she relished the task of helping her mother Maritza prepare Armenian coffee for her friends. Those first little sips when ladies came to visit turned into mug-upon-mug of coffee long before Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks became the rage.
In fact, it’s unlikely that anyone could have possibly gone through more Mr. Coffee Machines than Peggy. She was an early adopter of the Mr. Coffee Machine when it was invented in 1972. At last count, there were no less than 15 “old” Mr. Coffee pots on the shelves in the basement in West Roxbury. She always wanted to have an old pot on hand just in case the current pot broke. And although we’re not quite sure how many Mr. Coffee machines she went through over the past 54 years, you can be sure when the Mr. Coffee machine was on the fritz this past October while she was recuperating from a pelvic fracture, an immediate trip to Target was needed to replace it. And up until only a few days before her passing, Peggy’s passion for coffee never waned. When daughter May lovingly spooned her sips of coffee or a coffee shake, Peggy would show her appreciation with a nod or softly spoken, “That was wonderful!”
Peggy’s West Roxbury years yielded the completion of the family with the arrival of two boys, George and Michael in 1964 and 1965. A busy homemaker with a husband who ran a business, was in sales, and often traveled, Peggy was organized, efficient, and seemingly tireless. She was a wonderful mother who made getting supper on the table at 6:00, buying and wrapping birthday presents, and decorating the house for every holiday look easy. Somehow, she also managed to be involved with cub scouts, PTA, a library book discussion group, check homework, pack lunches, and drive kids to little league fields, Armenian school, Sunday School, AYF meetings, high school dances, and more. But she also gave her kids the freedom to roam – never doubting their ability to navigate the MBTA system, walk or bike to and from Centre Street to go to the library, shop at Dixon’s five-and-ten store, or get to their part-time jobs at Decelle’s and Fish Hut.
These busy years in the West Roxbury neighborhood did not lessen Peggy’s involvement in the Armenian community. For years, she chaired a booth for the St. Stephen’s Church Bazaar, utilized her teaching skills as a Sunday School teacher, and went on put her management expertise to work as co-director of St. Stephen’s Sunday School, a job she held for about 10 years along with her good friend Mona Talanian. And of course, with husband George, who served on the church’s Board of Trustees, Peggy relaxed and enjoyed the companionship of her many, many Armenian friends at Couple’s Club events.
As if West Roxbury, the church community in Watertown, four growing children, and a hard-working husband weren’t enough to keep track of, Peggy’s life and connections grew even more expansive with the purchase of a summer home near Old Silver Beach in North Falmouth. It’s on the shores of Old Silver that Peggy truly relaxed, typically with a thermos of HOT coffee nearby, along with a mix of old and new friends. With a husband who frequently invited people to “drop in” or “come on down,” Peggy always had to be prepared for guests. She consistently rose to the occasion, shopping for and loading/unloading an abundance of grocery bags in her red station wagon, toting them into the house, and making batches of food for her family and guests, both expected and unexpected. Almost everyone who knew Peggy during the Old Silver Beach years, recalls the fun and excitement of Fourth of July celebrations at Hye Point. The high point of these annual events arrived when Peggy, dressed in red, white and blue, carried her famous flag-decorated Jello cake in a mini-parade around the dining room table singing “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”
As her children grew, Peggy warmly welcomed her sons-in-law, Richard Markarian and Robert Borzakian, and former daughter-in-law Cindy, to the family table, and absolutely basked – in the glory of becoming a Nanny to her four grandchildren – Rebecca, Peter, Jeremy, and Joshua. All four loved being in her presence and looked forward to the easy chit-chat, candy and treats in the snack drawer, chocolate bundt cake from Roche Brothers on the counter, holiday festivities, rounds of I-Spy-With-My-Little-Eye, and the treasure trove of toys, board and video games they could play when visiting their Nanny and Papa in West Roxbury.
Peggy was often amazed that even through their teen years, Rebecca and Peter wanted to spend their New Year’s Eve at her house – a true testament to how much they enjoyed their Nanny’s company. Jeremy and Joshua were equally pleased to have their Nanny stay overnight every other Saturday night for much of their young life while their dad worked his night shift. They could count on her for great snacks, funny conversations with their dog Biji, and permission to stay up later than they were supposed to! She was proud to be able to attend all four high school graduations, as well as two college graduations. The pandemic and frailty were the only things stopping her from the final two college graduations. Through it all, she very much thrived on the joy their companionship, phone calls, vitality, and entertaining stories brought to her life as she aged.
Most certainly, Peggy was a devoted wife and cherished mother. Once the children were grown, she worked side-by-side with her husband as a receptionist at Sturdy Lantern Manufacturing Company in North Attleboro and Franklin. When George’s health declined, she tended to his well-being with the utmost concern and care. After his passing 19 years ago, Peggy maintained an independent lifestyle to the degree possible. She attended church services regularly, enjoyed the coffee hours that followed, and made new friends, renewed old acquaintances. She participated in Christian Fellowship meetings at area Armenian churches monthly. She did crosswords, read novels, loved going to Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts, and watching the Boston Red Sox. She went to St. Patrick’s Day lunches and Bingo events with West Roxbury seniors. And even though Peggy struggled a bit during her declining years and especially these past few months, she lived her life with great dignity, grace, resilience, and fortitude, always welcoming visitors, encouraging them to help themselves to a bite to eat, and enjoying quiet conversations, episodes of the Golden Girls, a mix of country songs and 50s crooners, or home movies and photos from days gone by.
If just a few words could exemplify the type of person Peggy was, top on the list would be devoted, gracious, thoughtful, warm, and gentle. She made and kept friends because she was easy to be with – both a good listener and a good conversationalist. She was practical, smart, and wise but careful not to impose, intrude, hurt feelings or offer an unsolicited opinion. She was a quiet, comforting, and patient presence when her children or husband needed it. Her husband George often praised her as being “one wing away from an angel.” And now upon her passing on April 13, the exact same day as her beloved George 19 years ago, we’d like to think she earned that second wing. May our dear Mother, Peggy, Nanny, Auntie, Sister-In-Law, Friend, and Neighbor rest in peace reunited with her beloved in a now complete a circle of eternal love.