Nora Kate Onanian, 22, accomplished Emerson College graduate, journalist

In the early morning hours of Christmas Eve, we lost our greatest gift. Nora Kate Onanian, age 22, of Bridgewater passed away at home surrounded by the love of her family. Despite the valiant efforts of her many teams of doctors and nurses over the past 13 years, Nora’s body was no longer able to sustain her. Since the age of 9, Nora has fought Ewing’s Sarcoma twice and most recently, radiation induced osteosarcoma which resulted in the loss of her left leg in April of 2023. In August of this year, she had a recurrence. The extremely aggressive cancer cells had spread throughout her abdomen requiring Nora to have a heroic surgery to remove multiple organs.

While her body may have been broken, Nora’s spirit never was. She endured everything with positivity and grace and greeted everyone with the sweetest smile. Nora was an inspiration and a model of courage. Despite all she had been through, Nora remained humble and kind. She was always concerned about the needs of others above her own. She cared very deeply for her family and friends and for the world around her.

Nora was a phenomenal student due to her never ending determination and strength. After graduating from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School as a National Honor Society Member, Nora continued on to pursue her degree in journalism at Emerson College. During her time at Emerson, Nora shined in her role as the web services coordinator at her college radio station, WERS. In her role as the manager of the station’s writing team, she was able to pursue her passion for music and concerts by interviewing artists and writing reviews for albums, songs and live performances. At the same time, Nora also served as the managing editor of the Independent Film Magazine at Emerson. Nora believed in the power of storytelling to amplify underrepresented voices, bridge differences and spark change. This led to her most recent role as an Entertainment & News Media Fellow in Disability Belong’s National Leadership Program for the Fall of 2024. Nora attended zoom meetings and wrote many articles from her hospital bed in the ICU at Boston Children’s Hospital as she recovered from her surgery.

Nora learned how to self advocate early on, and in turn became passionate about advocating for others. Whether consulting on films on their representations of disability or reporting on systemic barriers through human interest stories, Nora has played a part in fighting for a world where those with disabilities are no longer stigmatized and instead are portrayed with as much nuance and vibrancy as exists in real life. Nora found her internship to be the perfect blend of her greatest passions: the intersection between disability advocacy and arts reporting. Nora excelled in her studies even under the most dire of circumstances and successfully earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Journalism with minors in Music History and Culture and in Health and Society on December 16th with a 3.98 GPA. The head of Emerson’s journalism department presented Nora with an award for “Courage, Grit and Determination in Successful Journalism Degree Completion.

Some of Nora’s other passions include competing in adaptive swim meets as a member of Adaptive Sports New England at Simmons University, expressing her personality through her stylish outfits and bold earrings, creating beautiful hand made-cards for those she loves highlighting her artistic ability and fondness for puns, and naps with her cat, Cashew. Nora also loved to travel the world and explore new destinations and made it a priority during her last few months to attend the Paralympics in Paris at the end of August and to visit family in Colorado for Thanksgiving. In Nora’s own words, “Spending time with extended family in pure familial warmth and silliness” was one of her favorite places to be.

Nora loved and was loved by her parents: David and Christine Onanian; her older sister, Emma Onanian; her grandparents: Jane Onanian, John and Barbara Pupek and her late grandfather, George Onanian; aunts and uncles: John and Laura Pupek, Sarah and Russ Keith, Amy and Campbell Ilfrey; cousins: Casey, Kayla, Sophia, Sam and Ella and numerous friends, classmates, coworkers, and of course, her furry family members: Jack, Cashew and Kale.

The family is eternally grateful to the world class medical teams that have cared for Nora over the years with such kindness and compassion. Through their noble efforts, Nora was able to live the most fulfilling life possible. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Nora’s name to the Jimmy Fund Clinic at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. In place of formal funeral services, there will be a Celebration of Life for Nora on her birthday in April.

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