World War II Veteran Earl R. Sonnie 100th Birthday

Floor Speech

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Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding constituent from my district, Earl R. Sonnie. As we celebrate his 100 years of life, we think of all the memories and stories that he continues to share, as a citizen of this great country. Earl was born in Philadelphia on June 5, 1923, grew up in the Port Richmond neighborhood, and made his family home on Delwhit Drive in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

Earl attended Dobbins Technical School where he landed a technical internship with The Franklin Institute Research and Development Laboratories and Museum in 1940, working part time until his graduation in 1941. He was immediately hired by The Institute and was fortunate to work with engineers on a night navigation project with the Norden Bomb Site/Sperry Gyroscope Instrumentation. At the time, the Sperry gyroscope was used on the B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. Given his exposure to flight instrumentation, Earl continued his education at the University of Illinois in flight instrumentation and mechanical engineering and enlisted in the United States Army Air Force in 1943. During WWII, Earl earned the rank of Sergeant and instructed pilots, co-pilots, navigators and bombardiers on instrument flying and precision bombing while he was stationed at Tonopah Army Air Field, Nevada and McChord Field, Washington. Also, Earl was proud to earn the Army Sharpshooter Weapons Qualification Badge.

In 1946, Earl returned to Philadelphia to work for the next 42 years with The Franklin Institute Research and Development Laboratories, as a Research Engineer. During his career, Earl worked on many challenging and exciting projects. As a younger man, he provided maintenance on many science museum exhibits including the Foucault Pendulum and the Fels Planetarium. Given his mechanical expertise, Earl was assigned to several classified projects with teams from the U.S. Navy Base Norfolk, Virginia and with NASA at Moffett Federal Airfield, California.

Earl was the devoted husband of 61 years to his wife Margaret (O'Neill); together they raised nine children in their Bucks County home. He enjoyed various little league and scouting activities with his children, many of which at Washington Crossing Historic Park. Earl has 21 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren and is a member of the Feasterville Assumption Blessed Virgin Mary Roman Catholic Church. He has enjoyed participation in the Knights of Columbus, has spent countless hours restoring his 1959 Triumph TR-3, and is a long-time member of the U.S. Chess Federation. Earl was an accomplished woodworker--making and gifting regulation chess boards.

As we celebrate his 100 years of life, we are incredibly grateful for the many positive impacts he has made, and we heartily wish Earl continued joy and blessings.

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