NEW YORK — Nubar Kupelian was born in Egypt on November 1, 1933, to Armenian Genocide survivors Megerditch and Araxi. He was one of three children, with an older sister Anahid and a younger brother Berj, both of whom predeceased him.
At 16 years of age, Nubar attended the Antelias Jemaran in Beirut, Lebanon, where he spent five years studying Armenian history, language, and religion. There, he met and formed life-long friendships with numerous fellow students who would go on to serve the Armenian Church as bishops, vartabeds, and priests.
Nubar returned to Egypt to take up a teaching position at the Nubarian Armenian School in Heliopolis, where he taught middle-school and high-school students for more than 18 years. At the Nubarian School he met his future wife Anahid, who was a kindergarten teacher at the time. He often told his family heartfelt stories about his wonderful students, many of whom he kept in touch with over the years.
Nubar and Anahid were married on May 31, 1959, at the Armenian Church of Egypt, surrounded by their families and their students. In 1970, they immigrated to the United States, and settled into their home in Woodside, New York.
Soon after his arrival to the US, Nubar obtained a position at St. Vartan Cathedral in New York City, as the Assistant to Diocesan Primate Archbishop Torkom Manoogian — a role in which he served faithfully until Archbishop Torkom’s departure for Jerusalem, to serve as the 96th Armenian Patriarch of the Holy City. He went on to serve under two further Diocesan Primates: Archbishop Khajag Barsamian for 28 years, and Bishop Daniel Findikyan for two years, before retiring in 2020 at age 87 — after having served the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America for more than 50 years.
Throughout that time, Nubar was a leader, inspiration, and friend to his colleagues on the Diocesan staff. Additionally, for 25 years, he served as parish council chairman of the Armenian Church of Sunnyside, NY, led by the late Fr. Mamigon Vosganian.
