Obituary
Sunrise: 3-3-47 – Sunset: 8-26-22
Telma was born to the late Joseph Charmahali and Manooshak Manookian on March 3, 1947, in Abadan, Iran. She moved to the U.S. when she was just 17 years old. She went to school in San Luis Obispo and then later graduated from the San Francisco State University in Clinical Sciences. She was very artistic and enjoyed painting and singing. She joined the Byzantine Choir in SF. She was working at reference laboratories. She met the love of her life, Garo Ayaltin in 1971. He courted her until she finally gave in, and they got married in 1973. They started a family which grew with love and laughter.
She was not only passionate about her family and being protective of them, but she also found her way back to what she loved doing in her younger years; painting, and creating art. In fact, she started painting at the El Paso Museum of Art and because of her passions they started a senior class to accommodate more seniors who shared her love. She had this innate calling to open her home to friends and even strangers. Her smile and hospitality led to this magnetic pull for people to want to get to know her and be around her.
She loved hosting dinners with friends, relaxing in nature, exercising, swimming, and listening to Mozart. Her love was unconditional. Her spirit emulated sunshine. Although she spoke bluntly, it wasn’t beyond her to relate to everyone.
She leaves to cherish her memories: her husband Garo; her children, Nanea, Lorig and Armen; her son-in-laws, Gilbert, and Tyrone; her grandchildren, Nareg, Ani, Vaughn and Sophia; her sister Romilda; and many more friends and family whose lives she touched.