Sarkis Sookiasian was born in Malatya, Turkey to Nazareth and Manoushag Sookiasian. He was raised lovingly by his paternal grandparents as his father had emigrated to Philadelphia when he was a year old and his mother died shortly after. Despite the hardships, he always remembered his childhood in Malatya fondly and loved his grandfather a great deal. He attended the local school until at in 1909 at age 10, his father had established himself enough to have Sarkis join him in Philadelphia. Two cousins Kerope & Serope accompanied him to the on a long trek over land with a the help of a hired guide and then by ship to France. There they made the voyage to Ellis Island and then on to Philadelphia. He attended school there and acclimated to his American environment, living with his father and uncle's family. In 1922 a marriage was arranged for Sarkis to Tacouhi Tekian, who had recently come to America from Constantinople. Tacouhi was the daughter of the Sourpik Tekian and the late Bedros Tekian, Armenian Catholics. They had two children, Theodore and Nazareth, and they were raised in the Armenian Catholic Church. Both their sons served America in World War II and then went on to get married and have children of their own. Besides Sarkis and Tacouhi's 5 grandchildren, they went on to see many of their 10 great-grandchildren. Sarkis was a butcher and later a grocer. In the 1950s, Sarkis returned with Tacouhi to Malatya for the first time since he had left over 40 years before. After living in America for so long he found it to be very backwards and it had barely made any advancements since he left. Also it was now mostly devoid of the Armenian he had known growing up because they had all fled or were massacred in the Armenian Genocide, which occured just a few years after he had left, however he was warmly welcomed by the small community which still remained. After that disapointing last visit Sarkis never wanted to see his homeland again. Back in America, he was a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and Tachouhi was very involved with the Armenian Relief Society. As the Philadelphia neighborhoods around them changed for the worse in the 1960s, they moved to the suburb of Springfield. In their last few years, Sarkis and Tacouhi moved to a nursing home, where they died just six months apart after living to see many of their 10 great-grandchildren.