MONTEBELLO–Long-time community activist and member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Mgredich “Mike” Kandilian, passed away Tuesday. He was 93.
Born in Alexandropol (Gumri) Armenia on March 10, 1914. He spent his formative years witnessing the political destruction of a land steeped in a wealth of ancient history. He lost his father to the soviet upheaval and felt abducted when drafted into the Russian Army during WWII. When the Russian army tried to infiltrate Germany he became a prisoner of war. An unprecedented survivor he managed to establish a tire business in Dortmund, Germany after the war.
In 1947 he met Asghen Ohanian and married her in Stuttgart. They were blessed with two children Shushanik and Rouben. They joined the DP immigrant movement into the United States in 1949. It is here in their adopted nation that they devoted their lives to establish a family steeped in Armenian culture and its tradition with love and respect.
He is one of the founding fathers of the Holy Cross Cathedral and of the Armenian Mesrobian School working with other staunch Armenian Families in the Armenian community and with his best friend the respected Archbishop Sumbat Lapajian. He is a member of the Armenian National Committee of America, Armenian Relief Society and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.
He is survived by his wife Asghen Kandilian, his son Mr. & Mrs. Rouben Kandilian and their children Michael, Shana and Michelle, he is survived by his daughter Shauna & Alex Varatanian, the family in Armenia, his son Mr. & Mrs Hagop Kandilian and their children, and his granddaughter Nune Kandilian and her family, his great neice Nazig Genosian and his nieces and nephews in Armenia.
Funeral will take place Saturday, September 15 at 11 a.m. in the Holy Cross Cathedral located at 900 Lincoln Avenue., Montebello, Calif. The funeral procession will travel to Rose Hills Cemetery and the Memorial Lunch will take place at the Armenian Center located at 410 West Washington Blvd., in Montebello.