Inventor James L. Sorenson dies at 86
Funeral services are scheduled for noon on Friday
Besides his wealth and business acumen, Mr. Sorenson was renowned as a philanthropist.
Mr. Sorenson, whose wealth was estimated to be $4.5 billion last year by Forbes magazine, was 86 years old. He was listed as the 68th-richest American in September 2007.
According to a press release, a viewing will be held Thursday from 5 to 8 p.m. at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 Highland Drive. A second viewing is Friday from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the LDS Salt Lake Cottonwood Stake Center, 1830 E. 6400 South. Funeral services will follow at noon on Friday at the stake center, with interment at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park.
He was the owner of Sorenson Cos., a parent company to 32 corporations in industries including medicine, bioscience, investment/development and manufacturing.
Mr. Sorenson held more than 40 medical patents in his lifetime and is perhaps best known for co-developing the first real-time computerized heart monitor. He also invented the disposable paper surgical mask, the plastic venous catheter and a blood recycling system for trauma and surgical procedures, as well as many other medical innovations.
The younger Sorenson said his father's legacy will be as "a great American inventor, a man with a tremendous amount of innovation."
"He was one that had great tenacity in the face of conventional wisdom and common practice and stuck to his ideas and persevered and succeeded. He's been looked at as a visionary man, but I would say there was a real practical side of him, where he was able to make those visions come true by never giving up and methodically working at them and succeeding. So, from a business perspective, he was one of those very uncommon, interesting entrepreneurs who thought outside of the box and tenaciously went after what he thought was right."
Among his philanthropic endeavors is Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, which is creating a worldwide, correlated genetic and genealogical database used in ancestry research. His donations have helped a Washington, D.C., university for the deaf and hearing-impaired and assisted in establishment of an outdoor performing arts pavilion in Herriman. He gave more than $30 million for restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' temple in Nauvoo, Ill.
Recent comments
I was very privileged to have been able to sit down at the table…
Robert S. Warren | Feb. 3, 2008 at 9:43 p.m.
I only met Mr. Sorenson once. It was at the annual meeting of the…
Californian | Jan. 25, 2008 at 7:50 a.m.
While I only met Mr. Sorenson on a few occasions, I consider myself…
Glenn Clapp | Jan. 22, 2008 at 12:59 p.m.
