Nicholas Kucherov, 82, of Vestal, died on January 6, 2013. He is survived by his wife, Sheryl (Woodruff); three children and their spouses, Misha Kucherov, M.D. (Anita Kucherov, M.D.), Sergei Kucherov, and Tanya Denckla Cobb (Cecil Cobb); three grandchildren, Sasha Kucherov, M.D., Victor Kucherov and Tim Cobb; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was born in 1930 in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia and raised near Belgrade in a family of Russian expatriates. He attended a military academy, Kariatov, where he studied engineering and forged lifelong friendships with several cadets. He and his mother came to the United States as refugees after World War II. He worked briefly as a draftsman at an architectural firm in New York City before attending the Institute of World Affairs in Salisbury, CT, for displaced persons from WWII. There he met Ann and Stewart Hoskins, owners of the Lakeville Journal, who arranged a scholarship for him to attend Hotchkiss School. He fell in love with their daughter, Lee Hoskins, while she was attending Cornell University. They married and had three children, Misha, Sergei and Tanya. Nick was drafted into the Korean War and sent to Intelligence School in Monterey, CA before joining the 82nd Airborne, where he totaled 74 jumps. After the war he earned his Masters in Engineering from Purdue University, and worked for Alcoa in Indiana before moving in 1959 to Vestal to work for IBM. There, he reunited and worked with his lifelong friend from Yugoslavia, George Werbizky. He was proud of leading the Quality Assurance team for the hardware developed for the Gemini capsule and also for the IBM 360 computer. Nick's marriage ended in divorce in 1968, and he left IBM to follow his passion as an entrepreneur, developing his boat business, Nick's Marine, while also working as an independent consultant and trouble-shooter for numerous electronics companies, such as Maine Research Corporation, AMP, and Raytheon. In 1971 he married Sheryl Woodruff, of Maine, NY, who spent her career teaching Spanish at Binghamton High School. Through the years, as an entrepreneur, he developed a travel agency, negotiated import-export deals, and invested in real estate. He was part of a team that developed the Divi-Divi, the first beachfront hotel in Aruba, an island he loved. He bought a home there, and spent countless hours in his favorite pastime, gardening to create a tropical paradise garden of cacti, flowers and fruits. There were few countries he didn't visit, as he travelled extensively for work and also enjoyed many years of memorable traveling adventures with Sheryl. He loved life and lived it fully, and will be remembered by many for his big ideas, big laugh and generous heart. He was buried on Saturday, January 12, at Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. Expressions of sympathy may be made to the Monastery at 1407 County Road 46, Jordanville, NY 13361.
Published in Press & Sun-Bulletin from Jan. 9 to Jan. 13, 2013.