Leon Semonian Inspires as He Celebrates His 95th Birthday

The Armenian Community

Leon spoke both English and Armenian as a child, and related that when he was very young, his father was a deacon at St. James Armenian Church in Watertown, and so he would go with him to church every Sunday and sang in the choir. He was also a member of the Armenian Church Youth Organization Juniors.

He continued his community involvement as he grew older, and supported many organizations. He said, “I feel very proud to be an Armenian. We as Armenians must do our best to help each other, especially the organizations. I went out of my way to make sure I helped.”

He was deeply affected by the 1988 earthquake in Armenia and supported it through the Fund for Armenian Relief of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church. He also supported Armenia and Artsakh through the Armenia Fund and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research during the Artsakh war in the 1990s.

He has helped many other Armenian organizations, including the Armenian Heritage Park, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (including recently its Global Leadership Program), the Armenian Assembly of America, the Armenian EyeCare Project, the Armenian National Committee of America, the Ararat Association of Rhode Island, the Armenian Mirror-Spectator, and many of the local churches in the Watertown and greater Boston area. He is active in the Knights of Vartan and is also a member of the Council of Armenian Executives.

He and Marion created the Leslie Semonian Memorial Fund to honor their eldest daughter, who passed away in 1999, and through it created the Leslie Semonian Computer Center at St. James Armenian Church. The plaque, dated December 10, 2000, has a photograph of Leslie and an apt description of her as someone “who was truly a participant in life, and not an observer.” Every year the Semonians continue to contribute further to this fund.

Fr. Arakel Aljalian, who has been pastor of St. James since 1999, declared, “St. James is very grateful and thankful for the generosity of the Semonian family in establishing this endowment fund and continuing to support it over the years. It has allowed the St. James office to carry out its mission with modern technology and equipment.”

Leon and his family continue also to support another project in Leslie’s memory, the Leslie’s Links Ewing Sarcoma Fund at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This fund, Leon said, now has close to $2 million.

In addition to his own Leon and Marion Semonian Charitable Trust, Leon also put together and continues to manage the Robert A. Semonian Charitable Trust in honor of his brother, who passed away in 2016. Leon said that it is in a good position to continue to make good donations to various Armenian causes as well as non-Armenian ones.

He noted, “I enjoy giving. That is one of the pleasures I get out of life.”

Speakers

At the party, Leon’s daughter, Wendy Semonian Eppich, deftly served as the master of ceremonies, and also helped behind the scenes in some of the arrangements. Aside from the food, music and dancing, there were several speakers.

Leon’s old friend and work colleague, John D. Spooner, declared in a humorous vein that he had worked with Leon for almost 50 years, and as he had delivered the same speech at each of Leon’s many birthday parties, he would just use his old notes.

Spooner, aside from being an investment adviser, is the author of over 10 fiction and non-fiction books and has appeared on many television, radio and internet programs, including Wall Street Week, CNBC, Fox News, NPR and Bloomberg National Radio.

He said that he has written about Leon as a distinct character in the Boston financial world for many years and calls him Leo the Lion. He featured Leon in a Boston Magazine article with that title.

He said that he asked one of the firm’s managers after he worked with Leon for a long time what he thought Leon had done better than anybody else. Spooner said that the manager declared, “He made more schmucks into millionaires than anybody else.”

He declared that in certain ways, Leon was always a macho man, so you didn’t necessarily know if he had a tender side, yet Leon was the best husband Spooner had ever seen in terms of his love. There is nobody like him, he said, when it comes to his love for his family.

Another old friend, Paul Bogosian, then took the microphone and exclaimed that Leon is so Armenian. Bogosian said he has known Leon for several decades, initially through Leon’s brother Bob. Bogosian exclaimed, “He has an extraordinary, generous spirit.”

Paul and Leon traveled together to Los Angeles this past February where the latter was honored by the Knights of Vartan. Bogosian declared that Leon is a proud Knight and has been very much involved all his life in defending the heritage and culture of the Armenians. He does this with his checkbook, Bogosian said, with his spirit of always contributing, always showing up when anybody calls him from any Armenian group.

Paul read a poem he composed and dedicated to Leon.

Sheriff of Middlesex County Peter Koutoujian spoke next. He declared that those attending were not present that day only because it was a 95^th birthday, but rather, he said, “We’re here because it is Leon Semonian, a man who we love so deeply who is still so active today. There is still not an event that I go to now at which I don’t see Leon.”

He added that it is remarkable how so many decades of marriage did not diminish but actually strengthened Leon’s love for his wife Marion, despite the difficulties they had to overcome. Moreover, said Koutoujian, when you ask Leon about his children and he speaks about their successes, there is only joy that you can see in his face and you know you have made him happy by asking about them. Though he prematurely lost his eldest daughter, Leslie, to cancer, Koutoujian said that he was not embittered. Instead, it just made Leon and his family stronger.

“Leon,” he continued, “filled his life with compassion and love and support for his family, for his grandsons, and for his community. He invested in our community like no one else, and he was successful in his investments.”

Usually at a 95^th birthday, there are not that many people left to celebrate who are close to a person, but with someone like Leon who has been to events every year for decades, his reach, Koutoujian pointed out, was much deeper than just one generation.

Koutoujian presented Leon with a citation from his office recognizing his birthday and lifelong commitment to the Armenian community and his family.

Leon’s grandson, Austin, 13, spoke last, succinctly declaring, “I love you, Grandpa.”

Eppich admitted that when one’s father turns 95, one is in a state of extreme appreciation “times ten,” because it is a great gift to be able to have such a moment.

Eppich recalled that despite the heartaches her father has faced, he is a celebrator of life. “So,” she concluded, “to me, he’s pretty incredible.”

The evening continued with Leon dancing with the belly dancer for quite some time. The Armenian band continued to play after this, creating a festive atmosphere for guests of all ages. Leon later said that he plans to have his next birthday party when he turns 100.