BOSTON — George Keverian was a man who dedicated his entire life to public service. He was kind, honest, smart, and above all, put others first before himself. He was in tune with his heritage and was proud to be Armenian. The Keverian family, joined by Alfred Lattanzi, wanted to find a way to keep his legacy alive and use his life lessons to inspire the next generation of young leaders. They have created the Honorable Speaker George Keverian Public Service Scholarship to do just that.
Jack Keverian reflected on his brother: “George and I were raised by a mother and father that had escaped the Armenian Genocide and immigrated to our great country. They struggled to make ends meet during the Great Depression. George and I were touched by their sacrifices. I am sure that the struggles faced by our family is the force that motivated George to provide service to others. This is so well revealed by this simple but powerful quote from his valedictorian speech given to the graduating Class of 1948 at Everett High School: ‘Service should not be rendered as a favor conferred, or as a debt, but as a simple natural devotion to our fellow man.’”
George Keverian was blessed with a sharp wit and yet he was a humble man. He was sometimes asked: “Who is smarter, you or your brother?” George would answer: “I am street smart while my brother is book smart.”
The mission of the scholarship is “To preserve the memory of Speaker George Keverian by supporting the work of individuals who strive to create positive change by helping individuals reach their potential, communities achieve their goals, and society advance the principles of democracy.”
It is the late speaker’s family’s hope that the next generation of Armenian-Americans will continue forward by giving back to the community in a positive way and empower the organizations they participate in to do good in our society and within the Armenian community.
Speaker Keverian’s grandniece, Niari Keverian, said, “My uncle was an incredible man. He always put others before himself. He would take the time to speak with anyone and help you if you wanted to be helped. He believed in education and he would say, ‘it doesn’t matter what school you go to; it’s what you make of it.’ That is why this scholarship is so fitting as a way to keep his legacy alive. Our hope is that his story and his life’s work will inspire the next generation of students to continue to do great work themselves. By creating this scholarship, we hope to find students that represent who he was as a human being and hope that they pay it forward for generations to come. That is how we hope to keep my uncle’s legacy alive.”
