Arie Orchanian and Anie Manoushagian, the victims of a car accident after a family member’s funeral, were remembered by members of the church that they attended for years.
At Saturday’s service, Pastor Aram Bedrossian of the Armenian Memorial Church in Watertown, said Arie Orchanian, 32, and his aunt Anie Manoushagian, 80, had been members of the congregation for decades.
“[Orchanian] was a pure man and a good man,” Bedrossian said, according to the report by WCVB Channel 5. “He always wanted to do the good thing. We saw him as a future pillar or leader of the church. Him and his brother were best friends, but now his brother is going to carry that.”
They had attended the burial of an 89-year-old family member on Dec. 23, and as they were heading back to the church for a memorial dinner their car collided with another vehicle on Bigelow Avenue, killing them both.
The family is well known in the community. Orchanian’s mother worked at a nearby school, according to NBC 10 Boston.
“This family has just been a light to the community for so many years and also back in Lebanon and Syria and places like this and the roots go deep and everyone is just rallying around them,” said Bedrossian, NBC 1o reported.
The cause of the accident has not been released by law enforcement or the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.