Lusaper Shake’ Megerdichian Torigian was born in Istanbul, Turkey. She was the daughter of Krikor and Anna. She was the youngest of three sisters Laura and Mary. She attended the Essayan School. Shake’ came to the United States in 1957, where she met George Torigian. They fell in love and married in 1958. They were blessed with three sons, Nelson, Greg and John and raised them in West Nyack, New York. Their family began attending St. Thomas in 1966.

When her sons enrolled in Kirikian Armenian school, Shake’ became a devoted teacher and received the St. Thomas Armenian School award for her decade of service. Following her teaching period, she faithfully took on the responsibility of serving as St. Thomas’ office secretary for over six years.

Shake’s many talents included cooking, where she spent many tireless hours in the church kitchen with all her lovely friends preparing Armenian delicacies for all the church events including Bazaar, Memorial Day Picnic and Palm Sunday luncheon.

In addition, she was an active member of the Daughters’ of Vartan for several decades supporting Armenian causes.

One of her many endeavors was opening a fashion boutique with her sister Mary, MarShak Boutique, located in Englewood, NJ where they created custom made dresses and formal wear. She used her fashion skills to initiate many fashion show fundraisers at church.

At the time Hayr Soorp joined St. Thomas, Shake’ and her fellow members of the sewing club took on the task and created exquisite velvet garments for Hayr Soorp and the altar servers.

Sadly, Shake’ lost her beloved husband George in 1992. She persevered and for the next 33 years, she enjoyed family time with her sons, daughter in-laws, seven grandchildren Stephanie, Nicholas, Zachary, Andre, Nishan, Ania and Viken. She was also recently blessed with a great granddaughter Elena.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to

St. Thomas Armenian Apostolic Church

174 Essex Drive, Tenafly, NJ 07670

(201) 567- 5446

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