Orhan Idris Sadik-Khan

ORHAN IDRIS SADIK-KHAN July 2, 1929 to August 1, 2007

Orhan Idris Sadik-Khan, 78 years old, of Old Greenwich, died Wednesday, August 1, 2007 at Greenwich Hospital from complications of a seizure suffered at home on July 26th.

For many years, Orhan had put up a brave struggle against cancer and Parkinson's Disease.

He is survived by his devoted family including Karen, his wife of 38 years, and their three children, Karim and his wife Lauren Dardick of Cos Cob; Kadria of South Norwalk; and Altan of Old Greenwich and by his two children-from his first marriage: Janette and her husband, Mark Geistfeld, and their son Max of Manhattan and Fire Island; and his son John and his wife, Cathy Ruckelshaus, and their three children, Billy, Tommy, and Eleanor of Chappaqqua, NY.

Orhan and Karen moved to Greenwich in 1970 from Brentwood, California and in 1974 moved to his beloved home, "Rocklyn" in Old Greenwich where his five children grew up. While he loved his extensive travels through out the world, his favorite place was the porch of his home overlooking Long Island Sound. He belonged to Rocky Point Club and Innis Arden Golf Club.

Orhan was born on July 2, 1929 in Terihoki, Finland son of Alimjan Idris, an Imam, and Shemsulbenat nee Ashrat, a pediatrician. . He was the youngest of three children. His brother, Ildar, and his sister, Gulnar, both physicians and medical publishers, predeceased him. Orhan grew up in Berlin, Germany and during WW II his family experienced the infamous Dresden air raid on February 13, 1945 when their home near the Elbe River was destroyed. His family spent the remaining war years from 1945-48 in Mittenwald where Orhan attended the Oberschule fur Jugen in Garmisch Partenkirchen. From 1948-1952, his family lived in Cairo, Egypt where Orhan attended the American University of Cairo and graduated with a B.A. with distinction in Economics. In his senior year, he applied to several overseas graduate schools, choosing Stanford University. His mother sold a diamond ring to pay for his passage to the United States. He received his MBA with honors from Stanford Business School in 1952.

Orhan began his career in institutional research at Dean Witter in San Francisco and later as the head of research at F. Eberstadt and New York Securities. In 1965-67, he served as Vice President of Long Range Planning for the Business Equipment Group of Litton Industries with responsibility for the implementation of Litton's international growth strategy. From 1969-1981 he served as Senior Vice President and head of corporate development at Norton Simon, Inc., a multinational consumer products and services company. During that period he negotiated and structured all corporate acquisitions and divestitures. Between 1982-1984 he served as the first President of Millicom, Inc. a diversified international communications company with primary interests in cellular telephony, mobile communications and satellite television. He was a founding shareholder of Nextel. While a Managing Director of Paine Webber from 1986 to 2000, he contracted with the Soviet Union in 1990 on defense conversion and subsequently founded the Russian Partners Company Fund, the first OPIC insured venture capital fund in Russia. During his later years, he was President of ADI Corporation, his own consulting firm. He served on the boards of Firecom, Access Worldwide and previously had been a Director of the Near East Foundation and a Trustee of AUC. He was also a member of the Economics Club.

Karen and the children wish to express their sincere appreciation to the paramedics of GEMS and Dr. Michael Marino and staff of the ER and ICU units at Greenwich Hospital who used their expertise and compassion in caring for Orhan with kindness and dignity.

Services and burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Dr. Andrew Zelenetz, Chief of Lymphoma, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for his research and to the Pulmonary Service Fund in care of Dr. Michael Marino at Greenwich Hospital.