InternationalMemories of Jack Antreassian
Published: Tuesday July 14, 2009
Jack Antressian's memorial will take place on Sunday, July 26, at 4 p.m. at St. Vartan's Cathedral. How fitting for him to be memorialized at the place that is so defined with him. He was an iconic figure, although he would never have agreed with me, but he was that and so much more.
Jack became the first executive director of St. Vartan's Cathedral when the leadership of the day-to-day operations was basically in its infancy. How important it was for the cathedral and the Armenian community back in those days to have someone so capable and dedicated to bring this incredible institution through its developmental stages.
They say that the first 5 years of an infant's life is when they formulate who they are and how they will develop. Well, I believe there is much truth to that not only for children, but also for new enterprises. I say enterprise because the running of St. Vartan's was not about religion, but about good business. While Archbishop Torkom Manoogian, now Patriarch of Jerusalem, was then the first Primate of St. Vartan, seeing to the spiritual development of his flock, Jack Antressian was about keeping the community involved and the operations humming.
He was tireless. He did not know what an 8-hour day was. He did not know what a 14-hour day was. His clock spun 24-hours and never stopped for a winding.
I spent a period of time volunteering for the cathedral offices in those days. One of the projects I was given was to take all of the photographs of the consecration of St. Vartan's, and there were hundreds, organize them, and put them somewhere for safekeeping. If I tell you how daunted I was, it would be an understatement.
I collected the photographs and myself and went to work. I then began looking for a filing cabinet that had space to store this important collection, only to find out that there was not even one empty draw anywhere to be found. My next task was to try to pin Jack down to okay the purchase of a filing cabinet.
Well, as usual, my requests for an appointment went unheeded. I began running after Jack, as he never walked and he never used the elevator, as it took too long. Up the stairs, down the stairs, to no avail. Jack was too busy.
One day, out sheer frustration, I ran up the stairs behind Jack, followed him into his office and proceeded to tell him that I was not going to leave unless I got the okay for the filing cabinet, as all of my efforts would be lost. Jack said he was too busy.
I slammed both my hands down on his desk, told him I did not care how busy he was and I was not going to leave his office until he gave me the okay. He looked at me and said, "You're fired!" I looked back at him and replied, "You can't fire me. I'm a volunteer!"
With that, we both started laughing and I got the filing cabinet. That was Jack. No matter how difficult the situation was, how tired he was, or how much he had to do, he never lost his sense of humor.
I also want to acknowledge his wife, Alice, and his wonderful family for their dedication to the community and to St. Vartan's. They sacrificed a great deal in the loss of quality time spent with a husband and a father. I know what that is about all too well, but even my mother and I had more time with my dad/husband then the Antressian family did with Jack.
If there is a special place in heaven, and I am sure there is, I know without a doubt, Jack is there. For all the incredible things, which Jack did for the Armenian community that we know about, I know that God is aware of all that he did, which no one knows about.
May he travel well.
