Deukmejian was born Courken George Deukmejian Jr. in Menands , New York . His parents were Armenians who emigrated from the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s to escape the Armenian Genocide . His father , George Deukmejian , who lost his sister during the Genocide , was a rug merchant born in Gaziantep . Deukmejian 's mother , Alice Gairden , was born in Erzurum and worked for Montgomery Ward and later for New York State . Deukmejian graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from Siena College in 1949 . He then earned a Juris Doctor ( J.D. ) from St. John 's University in 1952 . From 1953 to 1955 , he served in the U.S. Army , assigned to the Judge Advocate General 's Corps
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
George Deukmejian