User:Noravarian/Suren pilafian, Armenian-American architect

Please add the name of Armenian-American architect, Suren Pilafian, to the list of Armenian-Americans. Suren Pilafian was the architect of St. John Apostolic Church in Southfield, Michigan. He was born in Smyrna, Turkey, in 1911 and immigrated to the U.S. with his parents after the genocide of the Armenians sometime after the First World War. He studied architecture and worked with the architect that built many public buildings in New York City and other American cities. In 1939 he won a competition to design the campus of Wayne University in Detroit. The project was put off until 1944-45 due to World War II. Mr. Pilafian and his wife, Beth Pilafian (Grace E. Jones), moved to Detroit sometime in early 1940's. The first building for the university's campus was started in 1946 and was named State Hall. Mr. Pilafian worked on several schools and residences in the Detroit area. Sometime in 1947-48 he took on a partner, Frank Montana. Mr. Montana later became Dean of Architecture at Notre Dame. Pilafian and Montana were the principal architects for the Engineering Building, Kresge Science Library and the Manoogian Language Arts Building on the Wayne State University campus. As far as I know Suren Pilafian died some time in the 1980s. His wife had died in 1971.