By Caitlin Castello
NEWTON, Mass. (Boston Globe) — By trade, Peter Bilezikian was an electrician, plumber and business owner. But he was also a self-educated philosopher and historian, and above all else, a storyteller.
“He would always leave people laughing, never crying,” said his daughter, Bethel Bilezikian Charkoudian of Newton.
Bilezikian, a survivor of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and a Newton resident, died Wednesday, March 24, at his home. He was 97.
Bilezikian was born in Marash, western Armenia. He arrived in the United States in 1921-22, his daughter said. He, his mother and siblings met his father in New York before traveling and settling in Newton.
In 2005, on the 90th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Bilezikian shared his story with Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham.