A Tribute to our Friend, Azad McIver

Last week, Truckee lost one of its oldest and best citizens, Victoria Azad McIver. Azad was born in Armenia in 1908. Her older brother Dick left home at an early age and eventually found his way to Truckee. Several years later Azad walked across the desert with her older sister Roxie to avoid being killed. They lived in an orphanage for several years before an uncle in Massachusetts sent them money to come to the United States where they entered at Ellis Island. Several years later they saw an ad placed by their brother Dick in an Armenian newspaper in Fresno. They immediately contacted him and moved to Truckee in 1922. Dick became a widower at an early age when his wife died after giving birth to their twins Azad and Yvonne. Roxie and Azad raised the children and were affectionately known as big auntie and little auntie. They helped their brother with his many business enterprises and enjoyed fishing in the Truckee River and hunting deer out at Airport Flat from their auto.

In 1944, Azad married Jim McIver in 1944 and moved to the dairy property owned by his family. The property is now the location of our nursery. After Jim's death in the 1960's, Dick and Roxie insisted that Azad join them at the Gateway Motel where she helped with the daily operations.

I met the Joseph family in 1975 while negotiating a lease in the Gateway Shopping Center. Roxie was an avid gardener and she was excited to have a source of plants almost in her backyard. We celebrated the lease signing at their house which featured great food and many champagne toasts. We became friends and I helped them with many projects over the years. I spent many hours after work in the Gateway Motel office hearing stories of their travels to Truckee and early days of being in business in Truckee. If they didn't see me for a few days they would call to tell me there was a Coors waiting in their refrigerator for me. They gave me lots of business advice and personal encouragement.

When my parents visited from Michigan, they were always entertained at the motel by Roxie and Azad. After Dick and Roxie died, Azad, always the quiet one, came into her own and kept up the great stories. We always enjoyed a Christmas pasty with her neighbor and friend Lou Stout, who came from Northern Michigan like I did.

In 1998 she decided to sell the McIver property to me along with my partners Eric and Rob so that we could expand our nursery. A fond recent memory of Azad was her excitement the night we celebrated the opening of the new nursery. She enjoyed watching all the landscaping take place and the improvements we were making.

I was fortunate to celebrate Azad's 95th birthday with her and I was able to have several good visits this year before her memory began to fail. I promised her in May, that I would continue taking flowers to the cemetery on Memorial Day as I have for 29 years. I will miss my dear friend.

Sarah Trebilcock