Obituaries : * Hagop Avedis Injejikian; Educator

Hagop Avedis Injejikian, a longtime San Fernando Valley language teacher and active member of Los Angeles’ Armenian community, has died at his Tarzana home. He was 70.

A Valley resident since 1961, Injejikian died Jan. 12 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, said his daughter, Susan Henry of Valley Village.

Born and raised in Kessab, Syria, he pursued his undergraduate education in Lebanon, receiving his bachelor’s degree in history from the American University of Beirut. In 1956, after working as a teacher in Beirut, he settled in Southern California.

Injejikian received his master’s degree and teaching credential from Cal State Los Angeles and in 1961 began teaching French and Spanish at Cleveland High School in Reseda. While at Cleveland, he also taught night classes at Pierce and Valley colleges and at El Camino Community Adult School in the 1960s and ‘70s. He retired in 1991.

During the early 1960s, he was a founding member of Holy Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church in Encino and a founding faculty member of the adjacent Holy Martyrs Ferrahian High School.

The following decade, he served as president of the local chapter of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Assn. and as a member of the organization’s regional board of directors.

In addition to his daughter Susan, Injejikian is also survived by his wife of 45 years, Rosig; daughters Maral Injejikian of Montebello and Lorig Injejikian of Los Angeles; a brother, Gabriel Injejikian of Northridge, and four grandchildren.

A Requiem Mass will be recited at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at Holy Martyrs, 5300 White Oak Ave., Encino. Forest Lawn’s Hollywood Hills mortuary is handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to a variety of organizations including the Armenian Apostolic Church Diocese, the Artsakh Fund and the Anahid Chapter of the Armenian Relief Society.