The family and friends of Asdghig "Starrie" Alemian of Weymouth held a festive party Saturday, March 2 to celebrate Alemian's 102nd birthday. She turned 102 on March 1.

Alemian escaped from the 1915 Armenian Genocide as a child of five, after both her parents were killed.

She was brought to this country at age 12, in 1922, from a Syrian orphanage in Aleppo by an uncle and has lived in Weymouth since that time, except for two years in Worcester.

Her first name, Asdghig, is a term of endearment meaning little star, or "Starrie."

She and her husband Sarkis had seven children and lived in East Weymouth near Jackson Square. The couple ran a small grocery store called Alemian's Delicatessen at 718 Broad St. near the old Immaculate Conception Church for many years.

In recent years, Alemian took part in events with the Armenian-American community in Watertown and at the State House to underscore the importance of officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide, The Patriot Ledger reported.