Victor G. Soukup

Victor G. Soukup

Kalamazoo, MI - Victor Soukup, loving husband, father, botanist and chemist, passed away peacefully on October 14. He was 95. He was raised in the south Chicago Czech immigrant community, attended Kalamazoo College, and, after a stint in the Navy, earned a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Michigan. In 1946 he married Shirley White and they went on to earn their PhDs at the University of Wisconsin. Victor and Shirley's marriage lasted 65 years until her passing in 2011. In Cincinnati, Victor worked briefly for P&G and later became Director of Applied Science at Cincinnati Milacron. An expert field botanist, Victor took a volunteer position at the University of Cincinnati as assistant curator of the herbarium where he spent more than 25 years while conducting his own botanical research. He is credited with naming of at least 6 new species. He was an active member of the Cincinnati Wildflower Preservation Society. He and Shirley attended the Northern Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Victor is survived by his daughter Ann, sons Tom, Paul and Mark, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He donated his body to The Western Michigan School of Medicine. A memorial service in his honor is planned for the spring, 2020. Persons who wish to be informed of details of the memorial service are asked to leave contact information at: vsoukupmemorial@gmail.com.