Posted on Fri, Dec. 5, 2008
K. Cyrus Melikian, an inventor with a coffee focus
By Sally A. Downey
Inquirer Staff Writer
K. Cyrus Melikian, 88, an innovative entrepreneur who made coffee
drinking a convenient pastime, died of heart failure Nov. 27 at home
in Haverford.
Mr. Melikian conceived the concept for a coffee vending machine while
serving in the Army Air Force at Wright Field in Ohio during World War
II. He and an officer, Lloyd K. Rudd, were annoyed that the PX was not
serving coffee.
After their discharge in 1946, the men went to work in Mr. Melikian’s
parents’ garage in Mayfair to devise an automatic coffee
dispenser. They tested the machine at an Eagles football game, selling
coffee for 10 cents a cup. "We couldn’t make it fast enough,"
Mr. Melikian told an Inquirer reporter.
In the late 1950s, to improve on the instant coffee that Rudd Melikian
Inc. used, Mr. Melikian developed a frozen liquid coffee concentrate.
In 1967, he and Rudd sold their company. Mr. Melikian and his sons
then established Automatic Brewers & Coffee Devices. At ABCD,
Mr. Melikian developed pods for single or double orders of espresso,
coffee-pod packaging machines and brewers, and coffee-bean grinders
integrated into brewers. His other inventions included a commercial
microwave oven and an ice dispenser for soda cups in vending
machines. He was responsible for numerous patents, his son Robert
said.
Mr. Melikian’s parents escaped the 1919 Armenian massacre and
immigrated to Philadelphia shortly before he was born. After
graduating from Northeast High School, he attended the University of
Pennsylvania before serving in the military. Last year, he was
interviewed for a PBS special on World War II veterans.
An award-winning marksman, Mr. Melikian helped found the trapshooting
program at Aronimink Golf Club. He was a member of several gourmet
societies, and was the founder and chairman of the Philadelphia
chapter of the International Bacchus Society. In 1961, he and Rudd
coauthored The Wonder of Food. In the 1970s, Mr. Melikian wrote a
syndicated newspaper feature about the history of famous dishes, and
in the 1990s he established and taught at a chef’s training school.
He consulted for the Economic Community of West African States and for
the Bank of Liberia, and was a partner in a wine importing and
distributing company.
In addition to his son, he is survived by his wife of 63 years, Roxie
Bozoian Melikian; daughters Karen Harrison and Michele Lockwood; and
six grandchildren. A son, K. Cyrus Jr., died in 1979.
Friends may call from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Chadwick & McKinney Funeral
Home, 30 E. Athens Ave., Ardmore, and after 10 a.m. tomorrow, followed
by a funeral at 11 at St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic
Church, 8701 Ridge Ave. Burial will be in George Washington Memorial
Park, Plymouth Meeting.
Memorial donations may be made to the Armenian Students Association to
benefit the K. Cyrus Melikian Memorial Scholarship, 333 Atlantic Ave.,
Warwick, R.I. 02888.
Contact staff writer Sally A. Downey at 215-854-2913 or
sdowney@phillynews.com.