Ara Eresian Sr.

Ara Eresian, Sr., of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, died October 15, 2007 at UMASS Memorial Hospital, Worcester, Massachusetts after he was stricken ill at home.

Ara's family came from Harpoot, Armenia. He was first generation in this country, born in Somerville, Massachusetts, the son of Hagop Eresian and Tensif (Mooradian) Eresian. He leaves his immediate family, his beloved wife of 57 years, Evelyn (Demurjian) Eresian; a son, Ara Eresian, Jr.; two daughters, Melanie Cara Eresian and Eva Marie Eresian, as well as a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Aharon G. Aharonian, and his wife, Marion D. Aharonian, all of Shrewsbury.

Ara was a graduate of Somerville High School and attended Franklin Institute and Clemson College. After college, he entered the field of plumbing & heating and thereafter owned and operated A & S Plumbing & Heating Supplies, Inc., of Worcester, a wholesale plumbing and heating supply company, for approximately twenty years. After retiring from that field, he helped manage The Office Lounge Inc. of Worcester, a business owned by his son.

At 18, he was the youngest junior trustee, and later, a sub-deacon of the Armenian Church of Our Saviour. Over the years he was very active and involved in church affairs and was instrumental in the construction of the church cultural center. He was a former member of the Knights of Vartan, and a former member and chairman of the South Worcester Kiwanis Club.

He was a World War II veteran, attaining the rank of staff sergeant and aerial gunner for the 330th bomb squad which flew many missions in the Pacific theater of the war for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

In later years he hosted a weekly news program on the Audio Journal radio network and was appointed a board member. For fifteen of the last seventeen years he was the host of "The Forum with Ara Eresian, Sr." a bi-weekly television news program aired through Shrewsbury Media Connection, and Charter Communications across central Massachusetts, interviewing many local and national politicians and pundits and loving every minute of it. He will be greatly missed.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Armenian Church of Our Saviour and the Audio Journal of Worcester.

Calling hours will be Friday Oct. 19, 9:30-10:30 a.m at Nordgren Memorial Chapel, 300 Lincoln St., Worcester. Private services will be held at the Armenian Church of Our Saviour, 87 Salisbury Street. Burial will be in Mountain View, Shrewsbury.

For directions and online condolences please visit

nordgrenmemorialchapel.com