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| Education: Boston University School of Law, 1952 |
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| Harvard University, Class of 1945 |
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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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