He was the son of Hagop and Sonia Der Avedisian, born in May 1898 or 9 in Erzincan, Turkey. He studied at Robert College in Istanbul, but that was cut short by the Armenian Genocide of 1915, in which his parents, sister, and a brother were killed. He had been in the Turkish cavalry because of World War I, but because the Turks' murder of his family and so many other Armenians he deserted. He become a fedayi freedom fighter and formed his own group to fight the Turks, of which he was the captain. It is said there was a dead or alive bounty put on him by a Turkish commander. After years of fighting he moved to Constantinople where he resumed studies at Robert College and remained there until 1921 when he immigrated to the US. He worked hard and helped bring over at least 40 Armenian families throughout his life. He helped to gather in Philadelphia and care for the remaining members of his extended family who had escaped the Genocide, including the orphaned children of his brother Arshag. He went back and lived in the Caucasus for a time, where he met Amalia Hagopjanian of Tbilisi, Georgia. He pursued and eventually married her in Micop, now Ukraine in 1929. They went to Moscow to get a visa for Amalia to leave the USSR to move with Kerope to the USA. Since she was a Soviet citizen, she was told she could not leave. One of her relatives was able to arrange a meeting with Anastas Mikoyan (a high-ranking Soviet leader; later the head of the Soviet Union) at the Kremlin, and he allowed her to leave. Kerope and Amalia traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg, through Eastern Europe to Berlin, then Paris, and then to the port of Cherbourg to board a ship which arrived in New York in February 1930. They lived in Philadelphia and had three daughters, Armena, Malena, and Sonia. He owned Craft Dry Cleaners Inc., 3201 W. 9th Street, Chester, and had served several terms as president of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Philadelphia chapter. Later in life Kerope visited Soviet Armenia where he was able to see his brother Haroutune, the only other survivor from his immediate family. Kerope is remembered fondly by those who knew him and for all he did to help so many.
He was the son of Hagop and Sonia Der Avedisian, born in May 1898 or 9 in Erzincan, Turkey. He studied at Robert College in Istanbul, but that was cut short by the Armenian Genocide of 1915, in which his parents, sister, and a brother were killed. He had been in the Turkish cavalry because of World War I, but because the Turks' murder of his family and so many other Armenians he deserted. He become a fedayi freedom fighter and formed his own group to fight the Turks, of which he was the captain. It is said there was a dead or alive bounty put on him by a Turkish commander. After years of fighting he moved to Constantinople where he resumed studies at Robert College and remained there until 1921 when he immigrated to the US. He worked hard and helped bring over at least 40 Armenian families throughout his life. He helped to gather in Philadelphia and care for the remaining members of his extended family who had escaped the Genocide, including the orphaned children of his brother Arshag. He went back and lived in the Caucasus for a time, where he met Amalia Hagopjanian of Tbilisi, Georgia. He pursued and eventually married her in Micop, now Ukraine in 1929. They went to Moscow to get a visa for Amalia to leave the USSR to move with Kerope to the USA. Since she was a Soviet citizen, she was told she could not leave. One of her relatives was able to arrange a meeting with Anastas Mikoyan (a high-ranking Soviet leader; later the head of the Soviet Union) at the Kremlin, and he allowed her to leave. Kerope and Amalia traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg, through Eastern Europe to Berlin, then Paris, and then to the port of Cherbourg to board a ship which arrived in New York in February 1930. They lived in Philadelphia and had three daughters, Armena, Malena, and Sonia. He owned Craft Dry Cleaners Inc., 3201 W. 9th Street, Chester, and had served several terms as president of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Philadelphia chapter. Later in life Kerope visited Soviet Armenia where he was able to see his brother Haroutune, the only other survivor from his immediate family. Kerope is remembered fondly by those who knew him and for all he did to help so many.
