[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 102 (Thursday, July 11, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7788-S7789]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE PASSING OF ALEX MANOOGIAN

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, it is with great personal sadness 
that I note the passing of Alex Manoogian, a highly respected community 
leader and businessman from Detroit, MI. Mr. Manoogian was revered as 
the most influential leader in the Armenian-American community in 
Detroit and throughout the United States.
  Mr. Manoogian came to the United States from his native Armenia in 
the 1920's, and settled in Detroit shortly thereafter. He soon founded 
the Masco Corp., a small venture which by 1936 became the first company 
owned by an Armenian to be listed on the stock exchange. He married the 
former Marie Tatian, who passed away in 1992, and was the father of a 
daughter, Louise, and a son, Richard.
  Mr. Manoogian was a member of the Armenian General Benevolent Union 
[AGBU] and the Knights of Vartan. By the 1940's he had been elected the 
national commander of the Knights and director on the central board and 
then president of the AGBU. In 1970, the AGBU voted him life president, 
and then in 1989 honorary life president, for his tremendous 
contributions.
  Under Mr. Manoogian's leadership, the Knights of Vartan Brotherhood 
established an endowment fund through which it donated services to the 
church and other charitable, educational, and cultural organizations. 
Also under his leadership, the AGBU established the Alex and Marie 
Manoogian Cultural Foundation, which has supported the publication and 
translation of many scholarly and literary works, funded cultural 
activities and provided assistance to needy Armenian intellectuals and 
educators throughout the world.
  Mr. Manoogian was a generous man who contributed to various 
hospitals, museums, libraries, universities, schools, and other 
charitable and cultural organizations in the United States and around 
the globe. He leaves us with many institutions throughout the world 
bearing his family name.
  In recognition of his international philanthropy, Mr. Manoogian was

[[Page S7789]]

awarded the Ellis Island Award, the Knight of Charity Award, the 
Presidential Medal from Argentina, the Cross of St. Gregory the 
Illuminator by His Holiness Vasken I, the Catholicos of all Armenians, 
the First Order of the Cedars by the President of Lebanon, the Cross of 
St. James by his Beatitude the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the 50th 
Anniversary Medal by the Prime Minister of Armenia. The President of 
the Republic of Armenia awarded him the honor of National Hero, and the 
President of Nagorno-Karabagh bestowed upon him the Medal of Honor of 
Artzakh.
  He was a fine man, whom I personally shall miss. I extend my deep 
condolences to the Manoogian family. My thoughts and prayers are with 
them.

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