DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich.—When the call is sounded to rally the metro Detroit area Armenian community to stand fast for justice, activist Ned Apigian makes his presence known.
The Dearborn Heights city councilman is equally active in partisan politics at the local and state levels of government and has embarked on a new mission in announcing he will seek to win the 11th State House District nomination in the Democratic August primary.
Political observers say Apigian’s candidacy to the Michigan State Legislature offers the talent and knowledge gained as a local municipality official. “I know I can help Michigan regain its past laurels that fell victim to the declining manufacturing industry. As a professional architect and community planner I offer a much needed talent to get this state back to better days,” he stressed as he announced his bid to seek the State House seat in the heavily Democratic voting district.
The 11th House district includes the communities of Inkster, Garden City, Westland, parts of Livonia and Dearborn Heights.
Apigian’s expertise in city planning and support for public education needs gives the Dearborn Heights councilman solid footing in his “platform for victory.” With that knowledge, Apigian also is enlisting campaign and financial help from metro Detroit Armenians to run an effective winning campaign in the sprawling Wayne County district.
Through the years, Apigian has been in the forefront of the Armenian scene so now would be the time for the community to give support to one of their own who seeks to serve in the State Legislature.
I first met Ned in 1960 at a meeting of the Mourad-Zavarian AYF. As a transfer to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Antranig Gomideh. It was the closure of my active AYF life and Ned’s first in Mourad-Zavarian. I was impressed with his ARF knowledge and quickly learned the young man from Niagara Falls took his oath as a Dashnaktsagan at age 16 from legendary ARF field worker Arthur Giragosian, who was noted for his motivational lectures on the free Armenian movement.
“At that time, there was no AYF in Niagara Falls, so I took the oath of the ARF,” Apigian relates.
Before the bid to pursue degrees in architecture at the University of Detroit and a masters in urban planning from Wayne State University, Apigian served for two years in the U.S. Marine Corps, which he credits for spearheading his keen discipline skills in organizational planning.
In addition to his degree skills, Apigian was awarded with a license as a community planner by the state of Michigan—an honor that gave him access to work with the design team in developing the expansion of Detroit’s Cobo Hall Convention Center—and a two-year stint on civic developments in Saudi Arabia where he learned Arabic to add to his fluent Armenian language.
At the ARF level, Apigian served four times as a member of the ARF Central Committee and a delegate to an ARF conference in Beirut, Lebanon.
Ned and his wife, Roxy (Madoian) of Providence are the proud parents of daughter Heather Krafian and four grandchildren living in Belmont, Mass.
In looking ahead to the heated contest in the 11th House District primary, Apigian repeats his pride at being a dedicated Armenian and Dashnak for 60 years. Presently, the active Azadamart Gomideh member urges Armenians to be equally active in the mainstream American political parties of their choice, be it Democrat or Republican.
Persons who want to support Apigian’s bid for the State House can send their political contributions to Committee-to-Elect Ned Apigian, with checks addressed to CTE – Ned Apigian, P.O. Box 32, Dearborn Heights, MI 48127-0032.
Mitch Kehetian
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