Obituary of Paul Sahagian

Paul Sahagian, a resident of Burlington for over 50 years, passed away at the Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Burlington on Thursday, March 4, 2010. The beloved husband of 60 years of Grace (Nakashian) he was 87 years old. Paul was born, raised and educated in Lowell. He was the son of the late Paul and Anne Sahagian. Paul was a veteran of World War II serving his country in the United States Navy. He was the recipient of the World War II Victory Medal, American Theatre Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre Medal and Philippine Liberation Medal. After leaving the service he went on to attend Stanley College where he majored in Drama and English, graduating in 1949, the year he married his wife Grace. They resided in Burlington and Paul went on to have a successful career in Sales working for John Hancock in Boston. Paul’s true passion however was stage acting, radio as well as writing and reciting poetry. During his lifetime he was involved with a number of performance organizations and radio stations. Locally he appeared on B-CAT as well as the Burlington Playhouse. He was an active member of the Burlington Senior Center where he enjoyed playing cards and attending many of the socials. He was very proud of his Armenian heritage. Paul will be remembered as a man who loved and lived life to the fullest. Paul was the beloved husband of 60 years of Grace (Nakashian). He was the loving father of Debra Frost & her husband Kevin of Burlington and Barry Sahagian & his wife Jane of VT. Brother of Betty Eterian of NH and the late Sam Sahagian. Devoted grandfather of Joe Sahagian & his wife Amy of NJ and Corey Frost of Burlington. Great Grandfather of Lily & Hannah. Funeral Services will be held at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn St., BURLINGTON (Exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Tuesday, March 9 at 11 a.m. Visiting hours Monday 4-8 p.m. Interment in Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Burlington. Memorials in Paul’s name may be made to Arlington Visiting Nurse, 37 Broadway, Arlington, MA 02474. Family Remembrance by Grandson - Joe Thank you to everyone who came today, thank you Grammy for being the glue that holds this entire family together under any and all circumstances, we all drive our strength from you. I also want to thank my mother, who last night at 9:00PM decided that I should be the one to do the eulogy today, nothing like a short deadline to get the creative juices flowing. If you’re sitting here today you knew Paul as a loving Husband, Father, Father-in-law, Grandfather, Great Grand Father, Uncle, Cousin, Friend or if you were lucky to have seen him perform live in the Play “You can’t take it with you” or you were one of the 500-600 people who he gave the VCR tape to you knew him by his most famous stage name “Mr. Dipina” Writing this Eulogy reminded me of some memories that made me sad and often times made me cry, but through the tears and sadness, I tried to focus on what would grampy want me to do, what would he want me to say, how would he want me to say it and I think he wouldn’t want any of us to cry for him. If he could have it his way, this service would have been in the backyard at 3 Basset Ave., with a nicely raked horseshoe pit, Ted and Kevin on grill duty, lots of family, friends and laughter. Grampy loved to be with family and friends, he loved to make people laugh and he was always the life of the party. He lived all 87 years of his life to the fullest, but to those who knew him, that didn’t mean extravagant trips, fancy cars or spending money on frivolous things. He lived life to the fullest by surrounding himself with family and friends. For more than 60 years Grayce and Paul opened their home to family and friends. It started with their two children, Debbie and Barry, then me, Kevin, Corey, and full circle back to Grayce and Paul living with my Mother and Kevin. For his entire life he was surrounded by family and friends and if we could ask him today, he would say that’s the only way to live life to the fullest. About a year ago, grampy and I were sitting on the couch watching TV and he turned to me and said “Joe, getting old stinks and I don’t think I am going to live very much longer. I laughed it off and said, ohh gramp; you’ll live to a 100. He smiled and said I have lived a full life joey. He said that I probably wouldn’t understand what that meant and he was right, as usual. I didn’t know a year ago, but I think I understand it more now. Grampy was blessed to have Grayce, his loving wife of 60 plus years, he raised and provided for two children, two grandchildren and got to spend time with two great grandchildren. In his mind living a full life wasn’t about material things, it was about spending time with family and friends, living life to the fullest was about making memories I could spend the next 6 hours talking about what grampy taught me and many of us here, but we don’t have that much time so I’ll keep it short. He taught some of us how to be a man, a father, a loving husband, a friend. He taught us that a penny saved is a penny earned. He taught me how to throw a baseball. For some, he taught us when playing gin rummy; don’t throw grampy anything lower than a 5 because he will pick it up to reduce. He taught us how to tell stories; he taught us that it is indeed possible to tell the same story fifty times and get a laugh every time. He taught us that you only need two things to fix a house, car or boat, duck-tape and concrete. All kidding aside, the things I’ll remember most about grampy was how he put family and friends first and how much he loved and cared for his family, extended family and friends. As many of you know Paul loved reading and writing poetry, acting, playing cards, bingo and spending time with family and friends. Knowing how much he loved poetry, I don’t think it would be right if I didn’t read a poem. Grampy would have begged for the chance to read a poem in front of all of you, his family and friends. This wasn’t written by him, but I think this is what he would want to say to us all. The poem is called “let me go” by Anonymous. We've known lots of pleasure, At times endured pain; we’ve lived in the sunshine And walked in the rain. But now we're separated And for a time apart, But I am not alone - You're forever in my heart. I'm walking now with someone, And I know He'll always stay, I know He's walking with you too, Giving comfort every day. There may be times you miss me, I sort of hope you do, But smile when you think of me, For I'll be waiting for you. Now there's many things for you to do, And lots of ways to grow, So get busy, be happy, and live your life, Miss me, but let me go. Thank you all again for coming.