George Shahinian

1927 - 2020

George Shahinian

Clifton - George Shahinian, age 93, passed away on March 8, 2020. He was born in New York, NY on March 3, 1927 to Garabed and Arousiag (Nalbandian) Shahinian, survivors of the Armenian Genocide. He attended Bronx Vocational High School. George served in the New York National Guard for two years.

George worked for Burndy Corporation in the Bronx for 15 years in the shipping dept. He left that job to fulfill a dream of owning his own coin and stamp store in Clifton, NJ, which he owned for eight years. The store was located in a prime location in downtown Clifton, right near the busy intersection of Main Ave. and Clifton Ave. across from the Clifton Theater. George always remarked that this was his favorite job in his working life. He attended coin shows and frequently won trophies for his coin collections. He also worked for Mosler Safe, a division of American Standard Corp. in Wayne NJ for ten years in the mail room and as a courier for a bank for eight years.

George was predeceased by his first wife, Marion (Boyajian) Shahinian, to whom he was married for 38 years. He was also predeceased by his daughter, Linda Barrere, who died in a tragic traffic accident in 2019. He is survived by his son, the Rev. Dr. Gary Shahinian and his wife, Linda Bogosian, of Worcester, MA. He is also survived by his second wife, Renee (Picart) Shahinian. George also leaves a stepdaughter, Carmen and her husband Robert, and their daughter, Maiya Grace Krichton. He also leaves a sister, Mary Bouloutian, of Lehighton, PA, several cousins, and many friends.

While George had a fulltime job during the week, for 10 years, he also worked weekends as a vendor at various flea markets in the North Jersey area. This wasn't just a hobby for him. He worked very hard at procuring collectibles, such as movie nostalgia, baseball paraphernalia, watches, jewelry, and first day stamp covers. When not working at the flea market, he would visit them and garage sales every Saturday and Sunday. George collapsed and died at a flea market, doing what he loved. He was an expert in Hollywood films of the 1930s and 40s, owning every film of that era. In all, he had a collection of 20,000 videocassettes and DVDs.

Growing up in poverty, George saved ten cents every week by keeping his bus fare for school, instead walking 23 blocks, and using the money for the Saturday matinee at the local movie theater. His favorite actor was Gary Cooper, and George had the privilege of being invited for a private tea with the actor in his Manhattan apartment in the 1950s. George had photographs taken with dozens and dozens of Hollywood and Broadway stars and made a collage of all of them.

George was fully devoted to everything he pursued, whether collecting movie posters, baseball cards, coins, stamps, and other collectibles, or whether it was religion, which was very important to him, or whether it was his family. He took early retirement to take care of his wife Marion, who was paralyzed from the chest down because of cancer and was wheelchair bound. He kept her at home for 7½ years until her death in 1991, fulfilling her every need.

George co-authored The Black Book of United States Coins and provided many photographs of movie stars shown in published film books.

George was very proud of his Armenian ancestry. He was a member of St. Leon Armenian Church in Fair Lawn, NJ where he taught Sunday School and was the Chair of the Seniors Group.

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, August 29, at 1PM at Vander Plaat-Caggiano Funeral Home, 13-31 Saddle River Road, Fair Lawn, NJ, vpfairlawn.com. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Armenia Tree Project, 400 West Cummings Park, Suite 3900, Woburn, MA 01801.