Rose V. Azarian

Rose V. (Perperian) Azarian, passed away on August 19, 2026, at her home in Salem, NH, with loving family by her side.  She was 91.

Born on July 13, 1935, in Lawrence, MA, she was the daughter of the late Shemavon and Martha (Cram) Perperian. Her father was a master pattern maker for local textile manufacturers who emigrated from Armenia/Turkey and her mother was a Down East Maine Yankee with descendants back to the Mayflower.  As a result, she grew up in an ethnically diverse household that stressed hospitality, generosity and perseverance.  A 1953 graduate of Lawrence High School, she was popular student with a magnetic personality and an eccentric sly wit that often gave way to comical malapropisms. She could also be quite determined and persistent, which earned her the nickname “Tourshi” from her father, meaning “sour pickle” in Armenian. 

After high school she trained as a stenographer and statistical typist, at the Winslow School of Business, and honed other executive skills that would serve her throughout her life. After graduating from Winslow, she worked as a court reporter in Boston and as an executive assistant at Lawrence Pump and Engine Co.  In later years, she did temp work as a “Kelly” girl at Gillette and other companies.  Wherever she temped, her typing speed and accuracy were held in high regard but she would decline offers of permanent  employment preferring to concentrate her time on her family.

Resembling a young Natalie Wood, Rose had many suitors but her heart always belonged to her childhood sweetheart, Harry Azarian, whom she married in 1957.  After marriage, she helped with the office work of Harry’s family business, Diamond Dairy Farms, a local milk bottling plant located in Salem, NH.  Some of her duties included learning how to drive Divco milk trucks and on a number of occasions she was needed to help tow disabled trucks back to the bottling plant.  Rose and Harry Azarian would share 70 years of marriage and their partnership would became the center of a life marked by family and community involvement. Rose devoted herself to her home and family as a homemaker raising three sons, a role she embraced with care and strength.

Rose was also a dedicated member of Holy Cross Armenian Apostolic Church of Lawrence, where she served for a number of years as church secretary, using her clerical training to produce weekly bulletins and flyers. In addition, she was a Chairwoman and founding member of the Young Women’s Guild, which was instrumental in organizing church bazaars, fundraising and cultural events and benevolent activities for the greater Merrimack Valley Armenian community reflecting her long-standing commitment to community service and fellowship. She demonstrated a flair for philanthropy when she worked as a local volunteer organizer of The Armenian Earthquake Relief Fund in 1988 - - helping to raise awareness and hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief aid.  She would continue to support the Armenian community and Armenian causes throughout her life as a member of the AGBU and as a member of the Daughters Vartan. She was well respected in the Armenian benevolent community for her selfless spirit, her faith, and her willingness to help wherever she was needed.  She also loved helping children and would often volunteer as a teacher’s aide in the reading lab at the Lewis F Soule Elementary School, where she helped children with learning disabilities reinforce their reading and comprehension skills.

A consummate hostess and party planner, Rose loved to entertain and have house guests, with the family house being the center for dinner parties, family holidays and social gatherings. She was always eager to lend a hand in planning any kind of social event.  She loved spending summers with her family at their beloved beach cottage on Seabrook Beach, creating memories that remain treasured to this day. She was an avid reader of novels and cookbooks, and she took great pride in her cooking.  She loved dogs with her favorites being her childhood Scot Terrier “Fritzy” and later her dearly loved Lhasa Apso “Cha-Cha”.  She enjoyed traveling and took many trips with friends and family including a long colorful group tour of Armenia in 1982 near the end of the cold war (“After three weeks, we finally got home — cold, tired and hungry!”).  In later years, she would enjoy traveling with her husband, and her youngest son’s in laws, Harold and Peggy Eisen, spending many summer vacations with them on the Outer Banks along with cruises and a trips along the West Coast and Europe. 

Rose, like her namesake flower, was colorful and magnetic.  Never without friends and always able to make friends under any circumstance, many found comfort, encouragement, and reciprocal love and friendship in her presence.

Rose is survived by her loving husband, Harry Azarian; her sons David Azarian and his wife Naseem, Gary Azarian and his wife Lisa, and Philip Azarian and his wife Melissa; her grandchildren Nicholas, Zachary, Samantha, Joseph and Alexander; her great-granddaughter Addison.

She is predeceased by her brother Vartkes Alonso (“Al”) Perperian.

A Memorial Mass will be held on Sunday, September 27, 2026, at 10AM at Saint Gregory’s Armenian Apostolic Church, 158 Main Street, North Andover, MA. Arrangements are in the care of the Goundrey Dewhirst Funeral Home, Salem, NH. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Rose’s memory to Saint Gregory’s Armenian Apostolic Church. To leave a message of condolence, please visit www.goundreydewhirstfuneral.com

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