At 83 years old, Mr. Rafik Armaghanyan is the oldest resident of the Vanadzor Old Age Home (VOAH). He found peace and love in the confines of the Vanadzor Home, where he has lived since 1994. Like many residents of VOAH, Mr. Armaghanyan has had a difficult life. Born in the Shahali (Gugark) village of the Lori Region in 1927, he graduated from the Tbilisi Railway Transport Institute in 1946, and found work in the Gyumri railway depot. Though Rafik married and had three daughters, his wife passed away at a young age, and only one daughter remained in Armenia. Left alone, Rafik remarried, only to lose his second wife at an early age.
Left with no one to turn to, Mr. Armaghanyan went to VOAH. There, he met Sofia Pavlovna, a Russian woman with kind blue eyes, who had been evacuated to Armenia after World War II. When Rafik and Sofia fell in love, they married in the local church. Members of the FAR staff have witnessed the great love with which the old couple lived their everyday life. Mr. Rafik chivalrously took care of his wife until her recent passing. “This woman presented me peacefulness of soul. Finally I understood what real love is,” said Mr. Rafik Armaghanyan. FAR is happy to be able to provide peace and happiness to the aging members of our Armenian community.