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Longtime Mt. Pleasant resident Veha Chamichian died March 12, 2018, at the Isabella County Medical Care Facility, with her daughter Vivien at her bedside. She was 100.

Veha was born, raised and educated in Syria, where she married Souren L. Chamichian, M.D., in 1940 and started a family.

She and the couple's daughters Norma and Eileen arrived in Mt. Pleasant in the early 1950s, following Souren's prior arrival and establishment of his medical practice. She and Souren embraced their new life and community with gusto, immersing themselves in the activities available in a small university town of the time.

They made Mt. Pleasant their home for the rest of their lives, raising their family here, where Vivien was born, and developing a wide circle of life-long friendships and participating in and supporting a variety of community enterprises.

Veha was an exceptional chef and hostess, and she and Souren loved welcoming an array of friends to their home for evenings of fine dining, bridge-playing, music and animated conversation.

Veha also enjoyed travel, both during Souren's lifetime and on her own thereafter, often with friends and family members. Her rich and varied social and community activities included participation in book clubs, bridge clubs, hospital volunteer organizations, the PEO Sisterhood and the arts. She was a longtime supporter of many local entities, including ArtReach, the Red Cross, Veterans Memorial Library, First Presbyterian Church, environmental groups and many others.

As an enthusiastic supporter of the local arts scene, she was a familiar presence at many classical concerts until her very last years. She also founded the CMU Music Department's Chamichian Artist-in-Residency series that for 25 years has brought world-class chamber music performances to town, free and open to the public.

Veha's varied interests and positive outlook, along with her modest, gentle and loving nature, drew many life-long friends of different generations into her orbit.

Veha was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Souren L. Chamichian, and daughter Eileen Chamichian. Survivors include daughter Vivien Chamichian, daughter Norma Pollack and son-in-law Gordon Pollack, granddaughter Karen Kraemer and her husband Dan, granddaughter Stephanie Trigg, great-grandson Campbell Trigg, and great-granddaughter Jenna Trigg.

A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Monday, March 19, at First Presbyterian Church, followed by a reception at Clark Family Funeral Chapel in the Reflections Reception Center.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to
PEO Sisterhood at https://donations.peointernational.org/
CMU School of Music at https://www.cmich.edu/advancement/Pages/default.aspx
WCMU Public Media at http://www.wcmu.org/support/
First Presbyterian Church in Mount Pleasant
or other local causes of your choice.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Veha Chamichian, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.