grave import

Obituary

William Sontag, 1926-2009. William (Bill) Sontag was born to Anna and William Sontag on August 8, 1926, in Englewood, New Jersey. He moved to New York City in 1938, and graduated from George Washington High School in 1944. He served in the Army Air Force and was discharged in 1945. Bill then attended Manhattan College and graduated with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree in 1949. He has been a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers since January 1, 1991. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Joanne. He leaves behind to cherish his memory two sons, Mark and John Michael. He also considered their wives, Teresa and June, his daughters. He was the proud grandfather of Brandon, Julie and John C., as well as one great-grandson, Xander. After working one year for the City of New York, he relocated to Burlington, Iowa, where he was employed by the Iowa Ordnance Plant. There he designed a product for the Atomic Energy Commission. Bill met his wife, Joanne, in Burlington, and they were married in 1952. In 1954 he was transferred to the Nevada Test Site located outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. He worked as a structural engineer on various facets of atomic testing until 1956. At that time Bill moved to Los Angeles County where he spent 29 years working for Pascoe Metal Building Systems. During that time he received many awards and was involved in the design of approximately 30,000 buildings. He was a registered engineer in California and 22 other states, as well as one province in Canada. In addition to being a life member of the American Society of Civil Engineers he also belonged to the Light Steel Fabricating Association of Southern California and represented Pascoe Steel on the technical committee of the Metal Building Manufacturers' Association, and served 3 years as Chairman of that Committee. In 1986 Bill retired as Engineering Manager of Pascoe Metal Building Systems and moved to Bear Valley Springs in Tehachapi. He then did private consulting for ten years. He moved to Bakersfield in 1998. After moving into the Greens, he served on the finance committee for many years. Bill wished to thank CBCC and especially Dr. Mukhopadhyay and his medical assistant, June, as well as the entire staff and his internist, Dr. Raj Patel, for their caring and compassionate care during his five years battling prostate cancer. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 10, 2:00 p.m., at First United Methodist Church, 4600 Stockdale Hwy., Bakersfield. In Lieu of flowers, Bill wished everyone to donate to the charity of their choice.