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This is the obituary of
Uncle Zaven. Uncle Zaven was the nephew of Mark Keshishian. Mark found
Zaven in the desert, wearing nothing but a "Potato sack" and
picking dates that had fallen off the tree. Zaven was probably around four
or five years old. Mark recognized his nephew and when he called to
him, Zaven got scared and ran away. It took Mark three days to find Zaven.
When he finally found him, he was with his mother hidden in the hills. His
father, one of Mark's older brothers, had already been
"Dispatched" by the Ottoman Turks, and they were on their own, on
the run. Mark gave them money and clothes and helped them get out of Turkey.
Within a year or so, Mark was married, Exiled from Turkey and now on the
Island of Corphu. He was working for The Lord Mayor's Fund of London,
running a refuge camp of survivors of the Armenian Ethnic cleansing program
of the Ottomans. He then heard from Zaven, his mother had died, now Mark was
a newly wed, with a seven or eight year old child. He raised Zaven as his
son, sending him to boarding schools in Europe and eventually bringing him
to the States when they settled here in 1931.
Zaven would eventually move to Memphis TN, and Later open Zaven Kish
Oriental Rugs.
 
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"Uncle Floyd" Wiggins, worked for Keshishian for over 40 years. Seen here
celebrating his 65th birthday just before his retirement, he will be missed."
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