On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Vladimir Sirotenko, loving husband and father of two daughters, died at the age of 70.
Vladimir was born on July 14, 1950, in Bryansk, Russia to Antonina and Ivan Sirotenko. On Oct. 3, 1969, he married his school love, Irina Kibalchich. They went on to raise two daughters, Ekaterina and Olga Sirotenko. He and Irina celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary on Oct. 3, 2020.
Vladimir was a very bright mind in his field of physics and a wonderful computer programmer. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees from Moscow State University in Moscow, Russia, in quantum physics. He went on to have a successful career in physics research at Northern Illinois University and Fermilab.
He was known for his intelligence, loyalty, kindness and compassion. When younger, he enjoyed playing the guitar, playing tennis and skiing. In recent years, he helped his grandchildren with various schoolwork, read in his free time, helped keep everyone’s lives organized and was an avid player of Preferans, a Russian card game similar to bridge. He made family the center of everything, and he made everyone feel very loved and cared for.
He is survived by his wife Irina, his two daughters, Katia and Olga, and his grandchildren: Daniel, Nikita, Vera, Zoya and Mila.
A funeral service for Vladimir will be held in Lancaster, California, and in Moscow, Russia.
Michael Sarychev is a Fermilab engineer. Irina Sirotenko, Vladimir Sirotenko’s wife, is a former Fermilab engineer.
With great sadness we report that our colleague and friend Vladimir Sirotenko died on Oct. 6 at the age of 70.
Vladimir made multiple contributions to the DZero experiment after joining the collaboration in early 1990s. He led calculations of the DZero muon system shielding for Run II, searched for new physics in Run I data as well as managed the experiment control and monitoring system for Run II. He was a member of IHEP, NIU and Fermilab groups while working on DZero and demonstrated his excellent scientific judgement and technical abilities. He joined Fermilab as an employee in 2000, retiring in 2010.
Vladimir was fun to work with and had exceptional sense of humor and positive attitude.
Dmitri Denisov of Brookhaven National Laboratory and Paul Grannis of Stony Brook University are the DZero spokespersons.