A long-time Tampa psychologist, Dr. Vahak Gadarian taught his children how to rely on themselves.
By MARTY CLEAR
Published December 19, 2003
BEACH PARK - Dr. Vahak Gadarian's children called him "Hairig" and their mother "Mairig" - the Armenian words for mother and father.
Dr. Gadarian was a first-generation American, born in Fresno, Calif., to Armenian immigrants. He was a practical man and, with the exception of his old-country names, made few concessions to his ancestry.
"My dad was more about, "We're in the U.S. now,' especially once he moved to the South where there wasn't a big Armenian community," said his son, David Gadarian. "They tried to teach us Armenian when we got older, but it never took."
Dr. Gadarian, a long-time clinical psychologist in Tampa, died Dec. 12 at age 77. His family remembers him as a straightforward, wise, intellectual man who guided by example.
"He was really good about teaching us about how to deal on our own," his son said.
Dr. Gadarian would often tell his children that half the people in the world are of below-average intelligence. So it made more sense to develop your own mind and your own skills than to rely on others, he would tell them.
"He was quiet, but he was a very warm person," said his son-in-law, Allan Tossoonian. "If you asked him a question he'd answer it, unlike a lot of people who talk around and around the answer."
Dr. Gadarian grew up in the Bronx. He attended City College of New York and seemed headed for a career in engineering until World War II, when he left college to join the U.S. Army Air Corps.
His family isn't sure why, but after the war Dr. Gadarian changed career paths. He entered the University of Florida and got his master's degree in psychology.
After a stint in Jacksonville where he taught at the Naval Air Training Center, he returned to Gainesville and earned his doctorate degree. Along the way, he met his future wife, Aza, also Armenian, at a dance.
They planned to live in Miami but didn't like it and stayed only a few months. Dr. Gadarian thought Tampa was a better city to open a practice and raise a family.
The couple moved to Tampa in the 1950s and built a home on Occident Street in Beach Park where they lived until a few years ago, when Mrs. Gadarian died. Dr. Gadarian continued to live there until deteriorating health caused him to move into a nursing home about a year ago.
In almost 50 years in Tampa, Dr. Gadarian became one of the city's most widely known psychologists. Originally a child psychologist, he branched out into marriage counseling and later into work with addicts and alcoholics.
He taught psychology, behavioral science and criminology at the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa and Hillsborough Community College. He also taught classes and conducted group sessions for DUI offenders ordered into therapy by the courts.
For most of his career, his son said, Dr. Gadarian lived like a typical father of his generation. He worked hard all day and came home and relaxed.
In his younger years he was an avid bowler and later enjoyed playing craps on the gambling boats in Pinellas County. He was also an active member and past president of the Dale Mabry Sertoma Club.
In the past few years, Dr. Gadarian had begun to embrace his Armenian heritage more than he had in his youth and regularly attended St. Hagop Armenian Church in Pinellas County.
Dr. Gadarian's health had been deteriorating for some time, but after Mrs. Gadarian's death he started to go downhill quickly. He had several strokes but finally died of a heart attack last week.
He is survived by sons David and Daniel Gadarian; daughter Linda Tossoonian and son-in-law Allan Tossoonian; one grandson; and brother Haig Gadarian.
