"Ruth Sonner"
Sonner, Ruth Gene (1928- )
The name, "Ruth Sonner" appears to be written on the glass plate of this image of a young woman.
After further research, we believe this is Ruth Gene Sonner from Strasburg. Her parents were Frank Camden (1893-1984) and Edna Christine (Stephens) (1911-1988) Sonner. She was the oldest child.
The 1940 census found her living with her parents and three younger brothers in the Davis District of Shenandoah County. Her father was a farmer.
She moved to Falls Church in Fairfax County, Virginia, as a young woman and worked for the telephone company, first as a switchboard operator and later, as a service assistant. She married and divorced two husbands: Bernard Crase (married 1949, divorced 1964) and Donald R. Curnutte (married 1968, divorced 1975). She did not have children.
Later in her life, she moved back to Strasburg where, as of January 2024, she has lived for many years.
Morrison Studio
Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society
Shenandoah County Library
Labelled "July 1948" on box of plates.
Biographical information was compiled from public records.
IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED
010164
Fred Brown Sonner
Sonner, Fred Brown, Jr. (1924-1944)
Military personnel - United States - Virginia - Shenandoah County
Portrait of Fred Brown Sonner, Jr. wearing his Naval Aviator’s flight jacket.
Fred was the son of Fred B. Sonner, Sr. (1881-1970) and Maymil Marie (Maphis) Sonner (1892-1956).
He grew up on W. Washington Street in Strasburg with his siblings.
In 1942, while a student at Roanoke College, Fred enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Two years later, Ensign Sonner was an aviator in the U.S. Navy when, tragically, he was killed in an airplane crash at the Naval Air Station in Sanford, Florida.
Morrison Studio
Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society
Shenandoah County Library
Undated
Identified by his good friend, Graham Conner, who remembered how, as kids, the two of them used to go everywhere on roller skates.
Additional biographical details compiled from public records.
IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED
002317
Lewis Sonner
Sonner, Lewis
Photograph of Lewis Sonner from the book "Service Record World War I and II, Woodstock and Vicinity."
Muhlenburg Post No. 199, American Legion Woodstock, Virginia.
Service Record World War I and II, Woodstock and Vicinity. Shenandoah County Library. Edinburg, Virginia.
Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC)