November 12, 1949 – September 4, 2022
Elizabeth (Lucy) Manuk Karayan passed away on September 4, 2022. She was a longtime Glendale resident who worked, raised a family and retired in the community. Studious as a child, Lucy nurtured her joy of learning, early on sharing cooking techniques with others and later in her own kitchen, teaching her grandchildren to cook their favorite Armenian dishes.
A fixture in the Pacific Edison neighborhood where she and her husband purchased a home in 1979, and where she lived until her death, Lucy prided herself on her culinary and social skills. The door was always open to family, friends and neighbors who counted on her for a warm smile, sympathetic ear and a bowl of her renowned Kubba Hamouth.
Lucy was born in 1949 in Basra, Iraq. She was one of seven children of Manuk Kevorkian, of those, three with her mother, Rosemary Johngor Kevorkian. Her mother’s fascination with British Royalty was evident in Lucy’s first name, as well as those of her biological sisters Victoria and Margaret.
In October of 1969, she married Herair Levon Karayan in Baghdad, moving briefly to Lebanon before emigrating to the U.S. and settling in Glendale. The couple’s three sons, Levon, Sevan and Viken, were raised on a close-knit block that was home to half a dozen other households in the extended Karayan clan. Lucy honed her people skills as a medical office manager and her culinary know-how as co-owner and cook with her husband at an early iteration of Al Wazir Chicken.
After her retirement, she enjoyed traveling to visit family in Stockholm, Holland, London, Baghdad, and San Diego and playing bingo with friends at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church. But she reserved the bulk of her attention for her eight grandchildren, showering them with hugs and special treats and making her home their after-school waystation.
Lucy endured a five-year battle with breast cancer and illness from COVID-19 before succumbing to heart failure at the age of 72. She is survived by her sister Maggie, her three sons and their wives: Levon Karayan and Rachel Catania, Sevan Karayan and Rosaline Karayan, Viken Karayan and Lisa Ohanian, and eight grandchildren: Sophia, Madelyn, Lincoln, Layla, Maya, Anthony, Andrew and Alex. She is predeceased by her parents, husband, and five of seven siblings.
A private celebration of Lucy’s life will be held in September. Friends who would like to attend, please contact a family member. In lieu of flowers please donate to https://donate.cancer.org/ or the charity of your choice.
