BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Emma Tabibyan Sogoian celebrated her 100th birthday on November 20 in her home in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan together with relatives and friends
Sogoian and her late husband Kalousd Karl Sogoian, well known philanthropists, supported a number of projects for the Mother See of Etchmiadzin. Notable among these was her decision to donate 18 Armenian manuscripts to Etchmiadzin in 2007.
The Sogoians were responsible for the complete construction of a beautiful church in Vayk, Armenia. They tried to equally support all of the Armenian churches in Metro Detroit. They donated organs for both St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church and St. John Armenian Church. They also have supported the Tekeyan Cultural Association, Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society, Cultural Society of Armenians of Istanbul (CSAI), and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU). The couple hosted many high-ranking dignitaries visiting from Armenian and Russia (including Mrs. Gorbachev).
Emma Sogoian was a past president of the Detroit Armenian Women’s Club from 1979-1981, and has been very active until this year. She has also been a regular supporter of the Tekeyan Cultural Association’s Sponsor a Teacher program and the Armenian Mirror-Spectator.
The couple were honored with the titles of Prince and Princess of Cilicia by the Holy See of Cilicia in Antelias in 1996. In 2012, Mrs. Sogoian, a longtime member of St. John Armenian Church of Southfield, MI, was awarded Echmiadzin’s St. Gregory Medal and Pontifical Encyclical during a banquet at the church in Southfield.
Sogoian’s husband, who passed away in 2006, always said that he could have not accomplished what he had without the help and support of his wife and close business associate for over 45 years. She became president and major stockholder of K. P. Sogoian Manufacturing, Inc., based in Royal Oak, Michigan.
Emma Sogoian’s birthday party at home included as guests her niece, Ani Parunak and great-niece Aslin Parunak, both visiting from Montreal, Canada. Also attending were Emma (Bagdassarian) Bagdassarova, Nevart Torian, and Diana Alexanian, all local friends. She also had two other parties with family.
Sogoian remains as forward thinking, kind and alert as always, and still keeps a very special place in her heart for the Armenian Church and the homeland.
The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
