Igor Sokoloff

1929 - 2023

Igor Sokoloff
July 19, 2023
With great sadness, his family announces the passing of Igor Sokoloff on Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Igor was born in St. Petersburg, Russia to Anatoly Alexandrovich Sokoloff (the Russian Painter) and Alexandra Ivanovna Matyukhina. Igor's life read like an adventure filled with turmoil, sadness, happiness, adventure and survival through three continents. His first turmoil was enduring and surviving World War 2. At the age of 13, as the bombings intensified and the Crimea was occupied, the Sokoloff family decided to escape to a neutral county. His trek took him through Romania to Switzerland. As the war ended, the family moved to Argentina as that was one of the first countries to open their doors to postwar Russian Refugees. Igor finally ended his journey in San Francisco, California. As an immigrant with limited English, he began looking for work. His US work career started and ended at PG&E. He began as a draftsman, and at night he went to school to become a civil engineer. His determination and intelligence were recognized, and he further pursued his education, specializing in nuclear engineering. Igor became one of the first nuclear engineers in California. He took great pride in contributing to the construction of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. During this time, he met Alla Plachutin, fell in love, married and had two daughters (Marsha and Katia). Igor and Alla loved to travel all over the world, being one of the first to visit the Soviet Union in the late 60s. They also loved to entertain: their house was known to host many dignitaries, dance companies, & opera singers. Parties could start at a whim and go on late into the night. Igor retired from PG&E in 1985. One not to be idle, he took the hobby he had of framing his father's paintings, and created a business out of his garage. He loved his framing shop and the many fascinating people that would come have their art work framed, & he continued to work all the way to the age of 92 years. If he had not fallen recently in Mexico, he would probably still be working in his framing shop. He leaves behind his wife of 61 years Alla, daughters Marsha (Maurice), Katia (Ray preceded in death), four grandchildren Mo, Jonny (Karina), Kristopher, Sasha and two great grand-children Alan and Douglas. He is also survived by his nephews and nieces, the Shkouratoff family, Turner family, Plachutin family, and Effimenko-Toulinov family. For more information regarding the Sokoloff legacy please go to www.anatoliosokoloff.com
Graveside service at Serbian Cemetery 1801 Hillside Blvd, Colma on Wednesday, July 26 at 11:00 am