Janet Samuelian

Janet Samuelian

Palm Desert resident, Janet Samuelian, 76, has passed away, much to the sorrow of her friends and family. She was born September 22, 1934 in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. to her Armenian parents, Samuel and Zephyr Samuelian, immigrants from northern Persia, and grew in Scarsdale, N.Y., the elder of two. From an early age, Janet had a warm and lively personality that endeared her to her family and friends. She loved art from an early age and enrolled at The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City at age 18. There Janet met and later married architect Thomas Aidala, with whom she had two children. They moved first to California and, in 1960 to Rome, Italy. After the marriage ended in 1962, she came back to New York to raise her two children, first there and later in Berkeley, Calif. Janet worked as a graphic designer for Giaccio and Associates until 1969, then as a freelancer in Berkeley, and later on in the 1980's, for Merle Norman Cosmetics in Los Angeles. Janet grew up in a large Armenian family. On her return to Manhattan in the 1960's, she befriended other Armenian-Americans and soon developed a lifelong passion for her ancestral culture. Moving to Los Angeles in 1983, she became a writer for two American-based Armenian newspapers, The Armenian Observer and The Armenian Monitor, reporting on Armenian cultural events and figures, both here and abroad. Janet's lively company and kind heart gained her many friends in the community and outside of it. She moved to Palm Springs in 1998, bought a house there, and carried on her Armenian cultural reporting and her travels. She enjoyed taking frequent road trips with her friends, including several cross-country drives undertaken with a light heart, as well as occasional visits to Armenia and even Iran and Italy. In Palm Desert, she volunteered at the Eisenhower Medical Center and was active with the Armenian Apostolic Church of Rancho Mirage. Janet leaves behind her sons, Marco and Darius Aidala; her brother, Robert Samuelian; and a great many caring friends and cousins. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011 at the Armenian Apostolic Church, 38900 Vista Dunes, in Rancho Mirage.

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