WESTMINSTER : Senior of the Year Is Driven to Serve

The first time he volunteered to deliver meals to seniors here, Murad (Mike) Fenerjian got lost several times.

“Some streets here are funny,” said Fenerjian, 77. “They are cut off on one block and then continue on another block. You wouldn’t find those back East.”

But seven years and more than 6,200 hours of volunteer work later, the Boston native has mastered his meal-delivery route. He has delivered 750 meals to homes and has coordinated volunteers for a program that often serves as the only link to the outside world for the homebound elderly.

For his work, Fenerjian, a retired plant manager, was named the city’s 1994 Senior of the Year. The City Council honored him with a proclamation two weeks ago.

“It shocked me,” said Fenerjian. “I wasn’t looking for honors. I love doing this job. It brings a lot of pleasure.”

Fenerjian had not done any volunteer work until he arrived in California eight years ago. Now, the effort has become a family affair. Fenerjian’s brother-in-law, Leo Kalian, 68, was named Senior of the Year last year, also for his volunteer work.

Kalian was married to Fenerjian’s sister, Anna, who died 10 years ago. He is now married to Sylvia Kalian, assistant director of the Westminster Senior Center, who runs the Home Meals Delivery program.

“Six years ago, I was so desperate for volunteers that I married one,” Sylvia Kalian said with a laugh. “But I was lucky, because I got Mike, too. I got two for the price of one.”

Fenerjian and Leo Kalian came to Southern California from Boston together in 1986. They lived in the same house and began to volunteer for the home meals program in 1987. Soon thereafter, Leo Kalian met his future wife.

The home meals program, now in its 11th year, is funded by federal funds, donations and the proceeds of fund-raisers, Sylvia Kalian said.

Currently, volunteers deliver 65 meals a day to homebound seniors. The hot meals consist of meat, vegetables, fruits and milk and cold dinners of salad, cottage cheese, juice and desserts.

Part of Fenerjian’s job is to recruit volunteers and coordinate the meal routes. He works an average of four hours a day, doing office work such as keeping the books, in addition to delivering meals.

“He’s such a good model” for seniors, said Betty Goyne, director of the senior center. “He’s out helping people instead of sitting home watching television. He’s a very caring person.”

Goyne said Fenerjian is one of about 90 volunteers who help run programs at the senior center.

The Senior of the Year award became an annual event in 1983 to honor volunteers, Goyne said.

Fenerjian, who loves to gamble in Las Vegas and bet on horse races, said he expects to volunteer for as long as he is healthy. Never married, he said that he feels he has an obligation to seniors who are often alone.

“They just want other people to know that they are still there,” he said.