Obituary of Levon Soorikian

Levon “Lee” Soorikian of Leonia died of natural causes on December 15, 2020, 2 months shy of his 93rd birthday. Born in Tabriz, Iran in 1928, Lee was raised in Tehran. His childhood adventures of hiking in the Alborz Mountains, learning to drive a car at age 9, escapades with his Community School friends, evading war time curfews and befriending American GI’s who instilled in him a life-long love of America, and playing soccer, lots of soccer, made the best bedtime stories for his children and grandchildren. He emigrated to the United States with his family in 1946, settling in Philadelphia where he excelled as a soccer player at Central High School and The University of Pennsylvania. He worked full-time for United Airlines to put himself through undergraduate and graduate school at The Wharton School of Business. It was during this time that Lee met his future wife, Diana. After receiving his MBA he served in the United States Army at Fort Eustis, VA during the Korean War where he taught transportation logistics to enlisted men and officers. Upon fulfilling his service, he entered the business world as a transportation expert at Union Carbide and as Director of Marketing with Seatrain Lines. As Director of Physical Distribution at ITT, he was a pioneer in the field of global logistics and a leader in the data warehousing industry. He traveled the world extensively, spending much time in Europe. London’s Savoy Hotel was his favorite haunt! Lee started his own firm, Globewise Logistics, in 1985. In 1988, he was able to use his expertise to help co-ordinate the massive recovery and rebuilding efforts after the devastating earthquake in Armenia. This humanitarian work was truly a labor of love for him. Lee loved doing the New York Times Crossword, spending time on Block Island and most of all, big family feasts (Ghormeh Sabzi!!!) Lee is survived by his wife of 66 years, Diana (nee Tashjian), his children Anne (Michael), Andrea, and Matthew (Karen), as well as his beloved grandchildren Nick, Joe, Tony, Williejane, Lee and Emma and great grandson Henry. There will be no service due to the Covid pandemic. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to Fund for Armenian Relief (farusa.org) and Center for Food Action (https://cfanj.salsalabs.org/levonsoorikian).