Edward Tufankjian, 88, doctor

The 1915 massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire helped influence the family identity of Dr. Edward Tufankjian, born in West Philadelphia in 1927, son Aaron said.

"My father's family," Aaron wrote in an e-mail, was "a very close and proud Armenian family that, like many Armenians, came to the U.S. for a better life, to escape the Armenian genocide, where they lost most of their family."

St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church in Roxborough was consecrated in May 1967 and, his son said, Dr. Tufankjian "was one of the original members that helped build St. Gregory's."

On Monday, June 15, Dr. Tufankjian, 88, of Sicklerville, a family care physician in Cherry Hill for more than 50 years, died of complications from heart problems at home.

Born in West Philadelphia, Dr. Tufankjian graduated from West Philadelphia High School and served in the Army Air Corps from July 1945 to January 1947.

As an 18-year-old, he had enlisted two months after the European war ended, and worked as a finance clerk for a reconnaissance squadron stationed outside Marseilles, France, his son said.

After graduating in 1952 from the former Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, now University of the Sciences, he worked at pharmacies in West Philadelphia before opening the first pharmacy at Philadelphia International Airport in 1956, Aaron Tufankjian said in an interview.

At his neighborhood pharmacies, "he felt disengaged, and he was really a people person," his son said, so the opportunity to be in the flow of airport passengers was an attraction.

But only for a while.

"My father was a very driven person," Aaron Tufankjian said, "and pharmacy didn't quite fulfill him."

So he returned to the classroom and graduated in 1959 from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Tufankjian opened his medical office next to his home in Cherry Hill in 1960, moved to Sicklerville in 2005, and then maintained his practice only through house calls until retiring in 2011.

He had played on his high school basketball team, though at 5-foot-10, his son said, "he wasn't the best athlete, he wasn't the star."

But in Cherry Hill, "we had a little basketball court in our backyard," he said, and "back in his younger days, he had a mean hook shot."

He was a member of several medical societies and a longtime board member for his church.

Besides his son, Dr. Tufankjian is survived by his wife, Arleen; sons Dearon and Edward Jr.; and six grandchildren.

Viewings were set from 10 a.m. Thursday, June 18, at St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church, 8701 Ridge Ave., Philadelphia 19128, before an 11 a.m. funeral service there, with interment in Arlington Cemetery, Drexel Hill.

Donations may be sent to the church at the above address.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.healeyfuneralhomes.com.