[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 111 (Thursday, July 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S8926]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO ALEX MANOOGIAN, 1901-96

 Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on July 10, Michigan lost one of its 
greatest citizens, a very humble man of great wealth, an immigrant who 
embodied all that is good about America, a man of 95 years who still 
had plans to make life better for people.
  Alex Manoogian came to this country in 1920 to escape the oppression 
of the Armenian people. A few years after his arrival, he founded what 
is today one of Michigan's most successful business firms, Masco 
Corporation. But it is the rest of the story that made Alex Manoogian a 
giant, not only in Michigan but in the United States and in the world, 
as well.
  He touched the lives of young people with educational facilities here 
and abroad. Cultural and educational institutions in Detroit, Ann 
Arbor, Armenia and Jerusalem welcomed his generous endowments. If 
Armenians suffered in America, his adopted land, or in his homeland of 
Armenia, he was there to help. He founded the Armenian General 
Benevolent Union to address the catastrophes that befell his people.
  The Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians came from 
Yerevan to preside at the funeral of Alex Manoogian. He described him 
as a Christian, an Armenian and an American. A Christian, whose deep 
faith kept him involved in the church for 80 of his 95 years--and he 
built St. John's Armenian Church in Southfield, MI, one of the most 
glorious edifices in our community with its golden dome that glows in 
the sunlight. An Armenian, who never forgot the persecution of his 
people and the need to continue to touch their lives. An American, who 
loved this country passionately and who gave back much, much more than 
he ever took.
  I loved meeting with Alex Manoogian. He spoke simply, eloquently and 
with great intensity about those things that mattered to him. I will 
always cherish our many discussions. We will all miss him.

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