[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 44 (Thursday, March 12, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S3072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                      REMEMBERING JOSEPH SONNEMAN

 Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I wish to commemorate the life of a 
very special resident of my home State of Alaska, longtime political 
activist Joe Sonneman.
  Dr. Sonneman passed away March 8, 2009, from Lou Gehrig's disease. He 
was 64.
  He made his unique mark on Alaska beginning in 1971, when he first 
visited to research a doctoral dissertation on the relationship between 
oil revenues and state government. He returned after graduate school 
and lived in the 49th State for most of the rest of his life. In true 
Alaskan fashion he proved himself to be a jack of many trades. Dr. 
Sonneman--known most often around his adopted hometown of Juneau only 
as ``Joe''--was a photographer, postal worker, public policy analyst 
and taxi driver. He also earned a law degree from Georgetown University 
and was a frequent candidate for Congress.
  On behalf of his family and his many friends I ask today that we 
honor his memory. I ask that his obituary, published March 10, 2009, in 
the Juneau Empire, be printed into the Congressional Record.
  The information follows:

                [From the Juneau Empire, Mar. 10, 2009]

                          (By Joseph Sonneman)

       Longtime Juneau political activist Dr. Joseph Sonneman died 
     early March 8, 2009, at Providence Regional Medical Center in 
     Everett, Wash., after a three-year struggle with ALS, 
     amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's 
     disease. He was 64.
       He was born in Chicago in 1944, and attended Chicago public 
     schools.
       After serving in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1966, including 
     service as a radar repairman in Korea, he earned a Bachelor 
     of Science in economics from the University of Chicago, and 
     master's and doctorate degrees from Claremont graduate 
     school. While in the master's program in government finance, 
     he was an intern at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. 
     He first came to Juneau in 1971 to conduct research for his 
     doctoral dissertation on the effect of oil income on Alaskan 
     government financial decisions.
       When he finished graduate school, he returned to Alaska 
     where he worked as a photographer, budget analyst, taxi 
     driver, heavy equipment oiler on the Alaska pipeline, postal 
     worker, and university instructor. He became interested in 
     the law and earned a J.D. degree from Georgetown School of 
     Law in 1989. He was a member of the Alaska, Hawaii and 
     Washington, D.C. Bar Associations and conducted a law and 
     legal research practice in Juneau.
       He was active in politics all his life, and served on 
     numerous local and state Democratic Party committees and as 
     Alaska Democratic Party treasurer. He ran for Mayor of Juneau 
     in 1973. He also ran in the primaries for the U.S. House in 
     1974, and for the U. S. Senate in 1978, 1992, 1996, and in 
     1998 succeeded in becoming the Democratic Party nominee for 
     U.S. Senate but lost the election to Republican incumbent 
     Frank Murkowski.
       He was a member of Veterans of Foreign War Post 5559; 
     Pioneers of Alaska Juneau Igloo Number 6; Juneau World 
     Affairs Council; Juneau Chapter of AARP; and Paralyzed 
     Veterans of America, and served on the Juneau Commission on 
     the Aging.
       As a photographer, he followed the example of Klondike Gold 
     Rush photographer A. E. Hegg, and documented the construction 
     of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline with an 8-by-10-inch view 
     camera. Over his career, he had one-person shows at the San 
     Jose Museum of Art, the University of Oklahoma Museum of Art, 
     the Alaska State Museum, the Chicago Museum of Science and 
     Industry and Harper Hall at Claremont Graduate University.
       After his diagnosis of ALS, he moved to Washington to be 
     closer to family members. He lived for two years at the 
     Washington State Veterans Home near Seattle and was also an 
     intermittent patient at the Veterans' Administration hospital 
     in Seattle.
       Survivors include his mother, Edith Sonneman of Chicago; 
     and sisters Eve Sonneman of New York, Toby Sonneman of 
     Bellingham, Wash., and Milly Sonneman of Sausalito, Calif.
       Burial will be at the Sitka National Cemetery with Jewish 
     graveside services at a date yet to be determined. 
     Arrangements are also pending for a Juneau memorial service.
       Donations in Dr. Sonneman's memory may be made to the Joe 
     Sonneman Prize In Photography Endowment c/o David Carpenter, 
     Claremont Graduate University Advancement Office, 165 10th 
     St., Claremont, CA 91711.

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