Rev. Edward M. Keazirian
Rev. Edward M. Keazirian, 91, of Cable Gardens, Ipswich, died Friday
October 10, 2008 in the Peabody Glen Healthcare Center, Peabody,
following his recent illness. He was the husband of Armine’ (Mikaelian)
Keazirian with whom he shared sixty-one and half years of marriage.
Born in Boston February 19, 1917, son of the late Martin and Rose (Kizirian)
Keazirian, he was a member of the Boston English High School Class
of 1934. He was a 1939 graduate of Nyack College where he was
president of his senior class. He received his Bachelor of Arts
degree from Gordon College in 1941, was awarded his Master of
Divinity Degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1944,
and attended the University of Maine in Orono for further graduate
studies in education. He was ordained a Minister of the Gospel in
1944 at the Ruggles Street Baptist Church, Roxbury, where he had
been a member since childhood. The Keazirians married in 1947 in New
York City. In his fifty-six years of pastoral ministry, he served
four churches: the United Baptist Church in Old Town, Maine, the
Lynnfield Street Baptist Church in Lynnfield, the Roslindale Baptist
Church in Roslindale, and the First Baptist Church in Bellingham
from which he retired in 2000. During a hiatus from pastoral
ministry he was a member of the Georgetown Baptist Church.
His
ordination was held jointly in the American Baptist Churches USA and
the Conservative Baptist Association.
He
has served as a Board Member of the Conservative Baptist Home
Mission Society and as Chairman of the Ordination Committee of the
Conservative Baptist Association of Massachusetts, was a member of
the Lynn Election Commission in the mid-1970s, and was Chaplain for
the Police Department of Lynn and for the Police and Fire
Departments of Bellingham. He was a longtime member of the Young
Men’s Christian Association.
A
gifted athlete, he had been a state wrestling champion in high
school and was a talented baseball player who had tryouts with the
Red Sox and the Braves before entering the ministry. He was a
lifetime Red Sox fan, coached and played church league softball and
managed Little League teams in Lynn. A visual artist, he enjoyed
illustration, creating signs and banners, and paintings. He also
enjoyed reading and bird watching.
In
addition to his wife he is survived by two sons, Edward M. Keazirian
II of Beverly and John M. Keazirian and his wife Mindy Wilson of
Glenview, IL; two daughters, Karen A. Keazirian of Littleton, NH and
Ruth R. Keazirian and her husband Michael Lindsey of Chicago; a
sister, Anne K. Arlington of Braintree; grandchildren Taylor Rebekah
and Mikael John Keazirian, and a nephew, Rev. David Keazirian and
his wife Lori of Edgewater, FL. He was the brother of the late
Nicholas Keazirian formerly of Wollaston and Martin Keazirian
formerly of Hingham. His funeral will be held Saturday October
18, at 11 am in the First Presbyterian Church, 179 County Road,
Ipswich, followed by interment in the New Highland Cemetery,
Ipswich. Family and friends are respectfully welcomed. Visiting
hours are Friday 5 to 8 pm in the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home, 6
High Street, Ipswich. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions in
his name may be made to the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary,
Center for Urban Ministerial Education, 90 Warren Street, Roxbury,
MA 02119 and/or Relief Aid, Armenian Missionary Association of
America (AMAA), 31 West Century Road, Paramus, NJ 07652.
