Community Activist Abraham ‘Apo’ Saghdejian Passes Away
Abraham “Apo” Saghdejian passed away in his home in Fresno on June 16, 2025.
He was born on October 6, 1944 in Beirut, Lebanon to Ohannes and Sona Saghdejian. After finishing his schooling in his early 20s, he decided to embark on a journey to America on his own. He attended Cal State Los Angeles and worked in the accounting field for a couple of years before heading to Fresno to follow his passion of farming.
After many years of successful farming, he met his wife, Rosine, and they had two children, Nayiri and Hovig.
Apo along with his wife Rosine and daughter Nayiri transformed the tragic loss of his son Hovig Apo in a 2004 car accident into a beacon of hope for Armenian American youth – through the Hovig Apo Saghdejian Memorial Fund.
Over the course of the past two decades, this Fund has helped hundreds of recent graduates – through the Hovig Apo Saghdejian Capital Gateway Program – to find full-time positions in the nation’s capital. The truly transformative presence today of an unprecedented number of Armenian Americans serving across Washington, DC’s foreign and domestic policy circles is due in large measure to the singular vision and devotion of Apo and his family.
In 2006 he lost his wife Rosine. The loss of both his young son and wife weighed heavily on him in the ensuing years. However, he took solace seeing his grandchildren Ani and Ara being born.
Funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 28, 2025 at 10 a.m. at the First Armenian Presbyterian Church located at 430 S. First Street in Fresno. Following church service burial will be at the Masis Armenian Cemetery at 11 a.m., located at 250 N. Hughes Ave., Fresno.
He is survived by his:
Daughter, Nayiri Saghdejian and children, Ani and Ara
Brother, Garbis and May Saghdejian and children, Lorig, Talar and Aram
Sister, Maral and Sako Goebashian and daughters, Tamar and Shaghig
Aunt, Sirvart Nahabedian and children
And the entire Garboushian, Saghdejian, Messerlian, Karagozian, Yacoubian, Ghazourian, Abajian, Hovsepian and Topalian families, relatives and friends.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to: the ANCA Endowment Fund/Hovig Apo Saghdejian Capital Gateway Program in Washington, D.C.
A Memorial reception will follow at AJ’s Armenian Cuisine at 5048 N. Maroa Avenue, Fresno.
