Community Activist Richard Darmanian Dies
Staff Report
Richard Darmanian, a long-time educator and Armenian community activist died June 10, at the age of 81. Mr. Darmanian was a member
of the Armenian Studies Program Advisory Board and was actively involved in the Armenian Studies Program.
He was a principal at Hoover and
Edison high schools and for many years was director of the Armenian National Committee in Central California. He retired from Fresno
Unified in 1988.
Mr. Darmanian was born in Sacramento and moved to
Caruthers as a boy with his family. He worked in his family’s vineyard and
apricot
orchard while attending Caruthers
High School. Mr.
Darmanian graduated from Caruthers High, then from Fresno State College, and
earned
a master’s degree there in guidance and education. He married Armon
Mamigonian in 1949. The Darmanians bought 20 acres in the Lone
Star-Sunnyside
area in 1959, built a home and farmed.
Mr. Darmanian was a past
president of the Fresno Exchange Club, a member of theArmenian Town Redevelopment Plan and served on the Holy
Trinity Armenian Church board. He was a founding member of the Armenian
Community
School of Fresno, and served six years as its Board of Education
chairman. He also served as chairman of
the Armenian Community Council
of the San Joaquin Valley
and on the April 24 Commemorative Committee.
October 2008 • Vol. 30, No. 1 (103)
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