Sofia Golovey

1951 - 2022

Sofia Golovey

June 11, 1951 - June 11, 2022

Sofia (known as "little Sofa" among relatives) was born in Minsk, Belarus in 1951, the youngest of three sisters in family of Jewish parents. Her father was WWII veteran and mother was in charge of raising girls. As other sisters, she had affinity to chess, eventually becoming the arbiter on National Championships. After graduation from high school with mathematics emphasis and with highest distinction, she enrolled to the Radio-Electronics (Electrical Engineering) Institute in Minsk and graduated in 1973 with Summa Cum Laude. These years were also times of playing for National student chess club, mountaineering in Caucuses, rafting in Belorussian rivers, and travels with friends, all over the country. She always was kind, optimistic, and creative. Her friendships from this time are lasting through the entire life and span many countries.

Her first and the only job in the Minsk Institute of Construction and Architecture addressed computer-based construction management systems. Three-year interruption from 1978 to 1981 for graduate studies in Moscow at the National Research Institute of Computer-aided Construction Management Systems. These were also years of exploring theaters, museums, reading poetry, and embedding in arts, offered by life in Moscow. The resulting dissertation has never been defended due to emigration to the U.S. Sofa fondly recalled these years, newly acquired friends, and her life in a dorm for graduate students.

Her marriage with Vitaly in 1982 after meeting in Moscow was a life-altering experience. Reasonably satisfactory life of two young professionals and proximity of sisters and their families could not change the reality. After birth of son Anatoly in 1984 in Minsk, it became apparent that life does not have any promise in this country torn by political and ethnic strife, persecution of Jews, and looming economic crisis. This feeling was shared by our friends that together raised their little kids in the countryside. They remained Sofa's and Vitaly's second family ever since. When family left behind the Former Soviet Union in 1989 one could hardly predict the looming tectonic changes there.

Sofia and Vitaly traveled to the U.S. through the refugee program during "perestroika" in the USSR by a typical path: Minsk-Moscow-Vienna-Rome-New York-Saint Paul. After few months, Vitaly found job at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1989. Here, Ameritas Insurance Company headquartered in Lincoln became the first and the only Sofia's job in the U.S. Highly valued by the company and colleagues in the IT Department for her ability to solve the most challenging problems, encouragement of collaboration, and demanding but friendly attitude, she retired in 2021.

The family life blossomed. Son Anatoly obtained Ph.D. degree and employment in applied mathematics area. Sofia sisters' families followed her to the U.S. contributing to the U.S. chess life and information technology.

Sofia travelled a lot, in the U.S., Africa, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. She was active in community life as a member of the Tifereth Israel Synagogue and life member of Hadassah, she served on boards of the Lied Center for Performing Arts and Lincoln Jewish Federation of Lincoln. Family was always surrounded by relatives and friends, scattered over all continents. Sofia charmed people by her smile, optimism, friendliness, fairness, and strong mind. She was light.

Sofia is survived by her husband, Vitaly Zlotnik and son, Anatoly Zlotnik (Santa Fe, NM), sisters, Marietta Golovey (Springfield, NJ), Tamara Golovey (Chicago, IL), nephew Mark Kapengut (Springfield. NJ), cousins Sofia Frid (Chicago, IL) and Dina Migachyov (Sacramento, CA), niece Oksana Turchin (Boston, MA), and their families and children in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, and London (UK).