ARSON VICTIMS MOURNED\Crowd attends family's service.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

Their seven white coffins covered with flowers and sashes, Turan Avanesian and her six children were buried Friday, amid tears and Armenian songs.

More than 650 people crowded into a hall at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in the Hollywood Hills to grieve for a family most never had met, or, in the case of several teachers, say goodbye to a group of bright children with such great promise.

"They had so many hopes and dreams. They were so full of life," said Medea Kalognomos, the Glendale High School guidance counselor who had taken the oldest girls, Roobina, 17, and Rita, 16, under her wing.

"I'm sorry their dreams will not be realized, that they were cheated out of that chance," she said.

Turan Avanesian, 37, her three daughters, Roobina, Rita, Ronika, 9 and her three sons, Rodric, 8, Romik, 6 and Roland, 4, were killed Feb. 6 in an intentionally set fire that gutted their one-bedroom apartment - the worst multiple homicide in Glendale's history.

Police believe the husband and father, Jorjik "George" Avanesian, 40, doused the living room and kitchen of the family's apartment with gasoline and set it ablaze. Avanesian has pleaded not guilty to arson and murder charges.

Police say Avanesian - who was arrested in October on suspicion of domestic violence - has admitted the killings, citing longstanding domestic problems with his wife, whom he suspected of cheating on him and using drugs.

Stanley Perlo, the deputy public defender assigned to handle Avanesian's case, said he and Avanesian did not talk about the possibility of Avanesian attending funeral services for his wife and children.

Perlo said he did not even consider asking the court for permission to let Avanesian attend because he was certain the answer would be no.

The family, Armenian immigrants from Iran, came to America in September where they had few friends and family.

When it came time to carry the coffins to seven waiting hearses, funeral organizers had to call on the audience to act as pallbearers.

"With new hopes and dreams in their hearts they settled in Glendale," said Archbishop Yeprem Tabakian of Glendale's St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church.

"Unfortunately, their dreams and hopes were shattered by great tragedy. They were victims of hate and violence," said Tabakian, who conducted the service at Forest Lawn's Hall of Liberty.

Although they knew few people besides Jorjik's sister and mother, who already lived in Glendale, the children were starting to make friends at school.

Dr. Nancy Jude, principal at John Marshall Elementary School, said Ronika, Rodric and Romik, all showed great promise in their few months as students at the school. She recalled how Ronika would help her younger brothers get their breakfast every morning in the school cafeteria.

"We could tell right from the beginning that they were very special children," Jude said.

David Isahakian, 17, was one of the young men asked to be a pallbearer as the crowd left the memorial service and headed out to the grave site. He was in a U.S. history class with the oldest girl, Roobina.

"She was one of the smartest students," Isahakian said. "She did nice things for people. She didn't deserve to die this way."

The costs of the funeral amounted to $20,534. The Smokehouse Restaurant in Burbank contributed $12,000 and donations to the Armenian Relief Society added up to $5,232. Forest Lawn agreed to absorb the balance of the costs.

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Photo (1--color) Family and friends gather at the burial of the seven members of the Avanesian family who were killed in a fire. (2--color) Relatives express their grief during the memorial held at Forest Lawn Memorial-Park in Hollywood Hills on Friday. (3) Volunteers were required to carry the seven coffins to the hearses. Tom Mendoza/Daily News