Grace Norian Bakamjian

Grace Bakamjian bestowed gifts of many kinds on family, friends, and students during an 82-year life that ended Monday, January 28. Perhaps most renowned as a piano teacher, Grace nurtured many young Tulsans to high levels of achievement at the keyboard while active as a leader in several local music and arts organizations. She also was a beacon for Tulsa’s small yet passionate Armenian-American community, which she nourished with kufte (meat and grain dish), kahke (braided rolls), and bacheeks (kisses). Grace was born January 9, 1931, in North Bergen, N.J., the youngest daughter of Jay and Merin Norian, survivors of the Armenian genocide in Turkey during World War I. She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters Elizabeth Mouradian, Lillian Moranian, and Sona Najarian;; and her husband of 54 years, Barkev Bakamjian. She is survived by sisters Siran Birbas of Shelton, Conn., and Mary Ayvasian of Lexington, Mass.; sons Ted Bakamjian and his wife Emily Duensing of Tulsa; Tim Bakamjian and his wife Ann Gaebe of Tulsa, and David Bakamjian and his wife Ronda Brands of New York, N.Y.; grandson Josh Parish and his wife Taylor of Tulsa, grandson Jeff Bakamjian of Tulsa, and granddaughter Allison Bakamjian of Santa Marta, Colombia. Grace began piano study as a young child in New Jersey and exhibited professional promise as she graduated high school in Winchester, Mass. She studied with renowned soloist Leo Litwin and at Tanglewood, summer home of the Boston Symphony, before marrying Barkev in 1953. She redirected her attention to raising a family and piano teaching, first in Massachusetts, then State College, Pa., then Ridgefield, Conn., New Canaan, Conn., suburban Cleveland, Ohio, and finally Tulsa, where she moved with Barkev in 1975 after he was hired by Amoco as a geophysicist. While living in Ohio, Grace earned a degree in library technology at Cuyahoga Community College. In Tulsa, she worked at the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors before applying her schooling to technical processing work for the Tulsa City-County Library during the late 1970s. Subsequently, and for the next 25 years, she returned full time to piano teaching, at one point carrying 39 students, including several winners of high honors in local and state competitions. She was active in the Tulsa Accredited Music Teachers Association, the Hyechka Club of Tulsa, and the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa, and she served as president of Concertime, now known as Chamber Music Tulsa. Grace and Barkev were instrumental in starting a Unitarian-Universalist fellowship in Connecticut, and they were longtime members of All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa. They also were longtime supporters of the Armenian Missionary Association of America (AMAA), which provides educational and other support to needy children in Armenia and Lebanon. A memorial service for Grace is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at All Souls Unitarian Church. In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to contribute in her memory to All Souls (allsoulschurch.org), the AMAA (www.amaa.org), Tulsa Camerata (tulsacamerata.org), or the Saint Simeon’s Foundation (saintsimeons.org). FITZGERALD IVY CHAPEL 918-585-1151

Grace Norian Bakamjian

January 9, 1931 - January 28, 2013