FRESNO — Isabel Lion of Fresno passed away on February 22, 2018. She was born on March 3, 1926, in Visalia, California, Isabel was the fourth and last child of Aram and Satenig Rose Keklikian. Her two sisters are the late Roxie Dashjian, and Madeline Moradian. Her only brother, Harry, died before the age of three.
On the family farm, near Goshen, Isabel acquired a strong work ethic in her young childhood and teenage years. While attending Visalia schools, she enjoyed learning, especially the spelling of words. She graduated from Visalia Union High School, which is now Redwood High School. In 1946, Isabel married Herbert Lion, a Fresno citizen who had recently returned from the war in Europe, where he had served in the Battle of the Bulge. A loving daughter-in-law, she embraced Herbert’s parents, Al and Queenie, now deceased.
Isabel’s faith journey encompassed experiences in both the Orthodox and Evangelical Christian movements. Members of the Apostolic Church, her parents, Aram and Rose, were early members of St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church of Yettem. Isabel continued to foster her ties with the church in Yettem, while her husband Herbert served as a Sunday school teacher in Fresno’s First Armenian Presbyterian Church. In the last decades of Isabel’s life, she also enjoyed listening to the sermons of G.L. Johnson of Fresno’s People Church.
Isabel was a wonderful cook, a gift for which she won four first place prizes at the Fresno District Fair. Published articles regarding Isabel’s cooking were printed in periodicals such as Sunset.
She was also an active member of Raisin Wives, in which her charitable activities included gift sales and recipe contributions. She executed gift sales with strict organization and a competitive streak. This competitive streak was also present in her competition with herself to make herself a better person. She was a member of the Fresno Women’s Choral Group, Toastmistress, and other life enriching activities. She was deeply involved in the education of her grandchildren at Fresno Pacific University. Living on the same block as the University, she befriended students who were not her relatives, enjoying her young friends’ invitations to commencement ceremonies. It was her way to quietly expand her circle of friends.
When Isabel’s sister, Roxie, passed away, she stepped in as a mother figure for her nieces, Linda Dashjian and Jeannette Dashjian.
