Victor Simeon Koshkin

June 7, 2011 Victor Simeon Koshkin of McKinleyville CA passed away peacefully on June 7, 2011 after a brief illness. Descended from a long line of noble Russian ancestors, Victor was born in New York City after his parents Simeon John and Feoktista Koshkin fled Russia during the revolution. He grew up in Ithaca NY, where his father was a professor of machine design at Cornell University and authored the book, "Modern Materials Handling." Victor served his country in WWII, serving in Patton's army. Victor's brother Eugene also fought in the war and was killed in Flanders. His deceased sister Ludmila ("Mimi") Beve lived in Baltimore. After the war, Victor enrolled at the University of Maryland, where in addition to earning his degree in engineering, he met the love of his life, Margaret. They married in 1950 and recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Victor was employed by DuPont Corporation and worked in research and development, at operations in Buffalo NY, Kinston NC, Richmond VA and Wilmington DE before settling down in Hendersonville, TN in 1961. Known at the Old Hickory plant as "The Doctor", he was a problem-solver who also had to his credit at least 50 patents. His work helped spawn two new product lines, Reemay and Typar, which created jobs for 1200 people. He later retired from DuPont and served as a consultant to Reemay Inc. Vic was an avid sailor when accompanied by his crew, which consisted solely of Margaret. Late in life he and Margaret took up bicycling. He was also an avid golfer and chess player. Most of all, his focus was his family. He leaves behind his dear wife, Margaret, his daughter Cat Koshkin and her husband Patrick Cleary, his daughter Chris Smithson and her husband JW Smithson, and two grandchildren, Kerri (Eric) Brock and Michael (Rachael) Norris. His last words were "I love you." His family would like to thank Drs. Bruce Barker and Paul Nguyen and the fine people at Mad River Community Hospital Intensive Care Unit, especially Tom, Seth, Kim and Carolyn for their exemplary care and compassion. For this Margaret and family are so grateful. Services are pending. Please sign the guest book at www.Times-Standard.com, click obits.