By Emily Minor
BOCA RATON — Nancy Bayzar Toumayan, who moved to Florida in 1998 and spent many years as a home health-care nurse, caring and cooking for the lonely and ailing elderly, died March 21 of complications from pulmonary fibrosis.
“She had a zeal for life, and she wanted to be happy,” said her daughter, Sylvia Toumayan. “She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.”
Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Mrs. Toumayan, who was 74, came to the United States with her parents when she was about 18, her daughter said, and dreamed of being an interior decorator.
Instead, she met Peter Toumayan, and started a family. The professional dreams were put aside so that she could be a full-time mother and wife. (The couple eventually parted and he preceded her in death.)
Mrs. Toumayan did work for many years selling Singer sewing machines, her daughter said. Through the years, she was able to put her interior design eye to the test, overseeing the building, furnishing and design of two family homes in Lexington, Ky.
In 1998, she moved to Boca Raton where she immersed herself in the church and social-service community.
Besides her children, she is survived by her longtime life partner, Mike Dasho.
An active and devoted member of the Armenian church, Mrs. Toumayan was the former chairperson of St. James Women’s Guild, past member of the Daughters of Vartan and St. David’s Women’s Guild of Boca Raton. She was buried in Lexington, Ky.
Besides Sylvia Toumayan, three more children survive her: Shirley Toumayan Miler, Marianne Fullam and Samuel Toumayan. All three of her daughters live in the Boston area; Samuel Toumayan lives in California.
Four grandchildren also survive her — and they all loved her bright personality, undying love and her spectacular cooking. For years, her home health-care clients would beg for her specialty dishes.
“She was an incredible cook,” said her daughter Sylvia. “She cooked with love, and it was very evident.”
The family asks that any donations in her memory be made to the Armenian church, or the American Diabetes Association, 10 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701.
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