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| Education: Boston University School of Law, 1952 | |||||
| Harvard University, Class of 1945 | |||||
| Retired, after a magnificent career in the law, Paul
Kazarosian died peacefully on February 5, 2009 at the Hannah
Duston Nursing home in Haverhill, MA. Paul began the practice of law in his beloved Haverhill MA in 1952 and at the time of his retirement, he had attained an AV rating, the highest rating established by Martindale-Hubbell’s Law Directory reserved for lawyers considered to have preeminent legal ability, and who embrace the highest of professional standards. Paul was the proud son of Armenian immigrants. His father, Harry, worked in the shoe factories in Lawrence and Haverhill, MA, and became an activist for safe and decent labor conditions. After apprenticing, he became a barber in Haverhill, MA. Paul was very proud of his father’s reputation in the community as a philosopher and historian, and always sought to emulate his intellectual prestige; prestige earned without a formal education, but by a jury of his peers. His mother, Veron, worked in the Haverhill shoe factories while raising her children and making a home for her family. In her 60's, she took up painting and was known as "The Grandma Moses of Haverhill". Paul was the last surviving sibling of four children; Vahe and Nishan Kazarosian, and Valerie Nahabedian. A graduate of Haverhill High School’s Class of 1941, Paul then attended Harvard University as an undergraduate, majoring in Political Science. During World War II, he was trained in the Army's Specialized Training Program, (ASTP), and served in the Philippines on Leyte Island. His service in the Army interrupted his graduation date and although he graduated from Harvard as the Class of 1945, his Class commencement was delayed until 1947, during which General George Marshall announced his famous Marshall Plan. After graduating from Harvard University, Paul spent a year studying International Law at the University of Paris. When he returned from France, he matriculated at Boston University Law School. He graduated in 1952 and in the same year, was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. Paul began his legal career by volunteering his time at Legal Services in Boston, MA. Shortly thereafter, he opened his own law office in Haverhill, but continued to supplement his living working at his uncle’s dry cleaning business, Penguin Cleaners. and at the same time worked to support his family in his uncle's dry cleaning business. By the late 1950's, his law office grew into a prominent firm with two partners, and several associates and support staff. Paul Kazarosian was always been known as a "lawyer's lawyer". Throughout his career, he established a well-deserved reputation as a tough and impassioned trial attorney. Although he concentrated in criminal defense, handling cases from marijuana possession and rape cases to high profile murder cases, he found the time to establish the first community medical association in the Merrimack Valley area, Pentucket Medical Associates, now affiliated with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Massachusetts General Hospital. In the early 1980's, he served as Haverhill’s City Solicitor and at that time, successfully in blocking an injunction which had caused a 2 year suspension of the construction of the new Hale Hospital, now Merrimack Valley Hospital. Paul worked within the community tirelessly. He worked to establish the "work-free lunch" for the Haverhill schoolteachers in the early 60's, a practice which is now a staple in teachers contract negotiations. He also volunteered many hours as a Director of the then Northern Essex County Association for Retarded Citizens, and was honored by the Association for his services throughout the years. He was also one of the founders of the First Bank and Trust Company of Haverhill in the early 1960’s; the first independently owned bank in the community in over 50 years. Also in the late 1960's, Attorney Kazarosian established one of the first independent television stations in the Northeast, WXPO Channel 50, which broadcast through its tower in Windham, NH from an elaborate studio in Lowell, MA. Channel 50 was a precursor to the current Channel 50, and predated Channels 56 and 38 as the first local independent station in the New England area. Paul always fought against monopoly and bias. In the early 1950’s, there were few opportunities for young first generation attorneys, such as handling real estate transactions. Merrimack Valley Banks had a long standing tradition of "closed lists", and did not permit private attorneys to perform real estate closings even for their own clients. After many years of protesting the practice, both individually and as President of the Haverhill Bar Association, Attorney Kazarosian successfully fought the practice, and the previously "closed" banks, relaxed their long standing exclusive policy. Attorney Kazarosian was a Mason and a Charter Member of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research. He and his wife, Margaret, were instrumental in establishing a Chair for Armenian Studies at Harvard University. He was also a proud member of the Armenian Bar Association, the Haverhill Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Essex County bar Association, and the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys. As Chairman of the Friends of the Haverhill Public Library, Attorney Kazarosian worked diligently to raise funds to rebuild the Haverhill Public Library after it was torn down during urban renewal in the late 60's. In addition to his services to the Haverhill and Merrimack Valley community, Attorney Kazarosian served as the Chairman of the Massachusetts Heart Association, working with Dr. Gerald Austin of the Massachusetts General Hospital in the early 70's. During his term as Chairman of the Association, Attorney Kazarosian and Dr. Austin strove jointly to educate the public as to the dangers of smoking, despite Paul's own addiction to smoking. He finally quit the habit in 1988, after smoking for over 50 years. Just prior to his retirement, Attorney Kazarosian enjoyed speaking on Elderly and Estate Planning issues and taught courses in continuing legal education to attorneys in MA on the topic of Estate Planning for the Elderly, and was an active a member of the Haverhill Hall of Fame Committee, organized under by the Haverhill Public Library. The Committee identified and memorialized past Haverhill residents posthumously, such as Louis B. Mayer, John Greenleaf Whittier, Dr. Frank Lahey of Lahey Clinic fame, nationally known author Andre Dubus, and R. H. Macy. founder of Macy's Department Store. He was a voracious reader, and enjoyed his membership in the auspicious and historic Monday Evening Club. An avid gardener and historian, he never hesitated to impart his well-reasoned political opinions, and enjoyed the debate. He leaves his beloved wife of nearly 61 years , Margaret (Movsesian) Kazarosian, and their three loving children, Marsha V. Kazarosian, a lawyer in Haverhill, MA; Paula V. Steele, a biopharmaceutical consultant and owner of SteeleSearch Personnel in Maine and her husband John, and Mark V. Kazarosian, Professor of Economics at Stonehill College and his wife Mary Beth. He leaves his beloved grandchildren, Matthew, Marc and Jeremy Moccia, Peter and Gabriel Neverette, and Paul Kazarosian, and his strong, wonderful and loving family of cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and colleagues who will never forget what a gift he was to us all. |
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