K. CYRUS MELIKIAN, AN INVENTOR WITH A COFFEE FOCUS
By Sally A. Downey

Philadelphia Inquirer
Dec 5 2008
PA

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.