Elizabeth Gregory Sonnecken

Elizabeth Gregory Sonnecken Aug. 8, 1916 - May 7, 2007

Elizabeth Gregory Sonnecken, 90, died May 7, 2007.

She was born in Rockford, Ill. on Aug. 8, 1916. After graduating from Rockford Central High School, she entered Carleton College in Northfield, Minn. Two years later she joined her high school sweetheart and future husband, Edwin Sonnecken at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. There she majored in psychology. One year following their graduation in 1938, they were married in the garden of her parents' Rockford home. On June 3, 2006 they celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary.

Until her first child was born on Christmas morning, 1942, she was employed in Northwestern University's bookstore at its downtown Chicago campus. From then on she combined her homemaking with volunteer work in a number of civic organizations. She was an active member and officer of League of Women Voters chapters in communities where they resided, including Ann Arbor, Mich.; New Canaan, Conn. and Akron, Ohio. She was editor of the Ohio League of Women Voters Newsletter.

For several decades she was on the board of the International Institute of Akron, serving as chairperson for a number of years. She was also a board member of Family Services of Akron. Recently she had volunteered with United Disability Services and had been a member of the Women's Committee of the University of Akron. As a member of the First Congregational Church of Akron, she held the leadership post of moderator.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Edwin and sisters, Margaret Gregory Lightcap and Priscilla Gregory Herndon. She is survived by sons, William Sonnecken of San Jose, Calif., Richard Sonnecken and his wife, Sara Watkins, of Akron, and Paul Sonnecken and wife Diane, of Grosse Pointe, Mich.; two grandchildren, Susan and Michael Sonnecken of Grosse Pointe; and brother, John Gregory of Avon, Conn.

Memorial services will be held 1:30 p.m. on Friday, May 11, 2007 at the First Congregational Church of Akron, 292 E. Market St., Akron, 44308, with Dr. Jay Marshall Groat and Rev. Duane Angel officiating. There are no calling hours. Interment will be at the Sonnecken family plot in Willwood Burial Park, Rockford, Ill. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Endowment Fund of the Akron League of Women Voters at 380 Mineola Ave., Akron, Ohio 44320.

(Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel)