Obituary of Maria A. Loukianova-Keonjian

Edward Keonjian who passed away Sept. 6, 1999, (attached obituary).

Maria A. Keonjian (Sunshine) born Loukianova, joined her sole mate

She was born in Paris, France, November 24, 1934 to a White Russian emigre family, second daughter of Alexander V. Loukianoff, a veteran and victim of the Russian Civil War (1917-1920) and of Catherine A. Larikoff daughter of a descendant of the Great Pomors (Vikings).

After graduating from French High School (Paris) in 1951 she emigrated to America the same year. She did not marry until she was sure her parents would be able to fend for themselves. Then after 26 years of a failed relationship, she divorced. She eventually married Edward Keonjian, one of the Fathers of Microelectronics. He was instrumental in giving her a stable and interesting life. She was his right hand, his secretary and faithful companion. She helped him write his autobiography. "Survived To Tell". She and her husband Edward set up an endowment for Russian law studies at the Congress of Russian Americans and a chair in Microelectronics at the U of A, in Tucson, Arizona. They placed a bronze portal over their Armenian Orthodox Church in Douglaston, N.Y. and financed a stained glass widow to honor Clara Holmquist who saved Edward during the Siege of Leningrad in 1942.

She eventually became a widow and while waiting to join Edward in the life ever after she occupied her time. All her life she strived to continue her education and finally she graduated from Pima College, from Culinary school at the top of her class. Wrote her autobiography "From Pins and Sawdust". She made several trips to Europe, one to Russia and the last one to her mother's ancestral country Bulgaria to seals family ties.

She was a staunch cradle Russian Orthodox and was an active parishioner and donor of the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church while living in Arizona.

She is survived by her son Mikael M. Safarian Jr., his daughters Alexandra and Elizaveta and a son Mikael III; also by her daughter Asya M. Almonte, her daughter Natasha and her son Nicolaii; by her step-son Edward Jr. and his daughter Camille. She also leaves behind a sister Anna Loukiyanovsky-Finkle and her family

She will be entered with her long awaiting Edward at the Evergreen Cemetery on Oracle Road, Tucson, AZ

God grant her eternal peace.

In lieu of flowers, it was Maria's wish to have the remembrances and donations made out to the Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church (for the Iconostasis), 5910 5th street, Tucson

Edward Keonjian ,

Distinguished professor in residence at the University of Arizona, died on 

Sept. 6, 1999 from a ruptured artery. He was 90.

Keonjian and eight other engineers from GE published "Princi-ples of Transistor Circuits" in

1953. It was the first book on transistors and became an instant best seller among engi-neers.

He was an early leader in the field

of low-power electronics, and in 1954 designed the world's first solar-powered, pocket sized radio transmitter.

The transnhit-

ter now is on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Keonjian was born to a large Armenian family in Tiflis, Georgia in czarist Russia and went on to live a life that rivaled an adventure novel for excitement and last-minute escapes.

He earned his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Leningrad (now St. Petersburg)

Institute of Electrical Engineering in 1932 and just a few years later was one of the millions of Russians swept into the vortex of World War II.

He Survived the siege of Leningrad-at one point being left for dead in a mass grave— and later escaped with his wife and son from a German slave labor camp.

Through persistence and de-termination, he secured a visa for himself and his family after the war and came to the United States in 1947, penniless, already middle-aged, and unable to speak the language.

His prospects weren't any bet-

The contributions of Hispanic-Americans to the Army Reserve, and to our entire Department of Defense, are significant.

Their numbers in our enlisted ranks have doubled during the past 20 years.

He'hact hore Thati 100 publi-

cations and 27 U.S. and foreign patents.

One of the books Keon-

jian edited and co-authored, "Mi-croelectronics: Theory, Design, and Fabrication", sold more than one million copies worldwide and has been translated into six languages since it was first published in 1963.

While employed by Grumman

Aircraft, he worked with Neil Armstrong as chief of failure analysis on the Apollo 11 project.

He also spent several years in India and

Egypt working as an

electronics

specialist for the

United Nations.

Keonjian was a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, won the Distinguished Colleague Award from the Aerospace Industries Assoc.

(AIA), and was a member of the New York Academy of Science.

He was a avid traveler and a member of the Explorer's Club, the Circumnavigators Club, and the Archaeological Institute of America.

In 1997, he chronicled his life story in his

"Sustory to Tell autobiography