Joseph Sochon

Joseph Antoni "Joe" Sochon, a survivor of World War II concentration camps, passed away Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 92 years of age. The November 9, 2006 issue of The State Journal Register printed his photograph and chronicled his story. On March 13, 1915, Joseph was born in the Poland to Joseph Sochon and Emilia Lukaszewicz. He grew up on a 20-acre farm and as a young man worked as a roofer of clay tiles and harvested wood from the local forest. Joseph entered the Polish Army in 1937 and attended Officers Training and Tank School. Their best sharpshooter, Joe graduated first in the class of 120 cadets. With the defeat of the Polish Army in 1937 by the simultaneous invasions of Germany and Russia, Joseph became a German Prisoner of War. Sent to Germany to work on farms, Joe escaped after three years, walked for two weeks back to Poland and joined the underground movement. The Germans recaptured Joseph, reclassified him a "Political Prisoner" and sent him to the Gros Rosen Concentration Camp, then the Nordhausen Camp. The American Army freed the camp in 1945 and Joe spent the next five years in a Displaced Persons Camp in Heilbronn, Germany. Joes ability to speak Polish, Russian, German, and Czech, plus his outgoing personality and leadership skill led the Allied Army to appoint him a Block Leader. He made friends with many refugees in the camp and formed friendships that lasted a lifetime. Joe met Valeria Pokrowska at a camp dance and they married October 21, 1945. Their wedding reception took place in the camps large communal kitchen. Theirs was the only wedding of the day and estimated 5,000 people came and went before the day ended! In 1950 Joseph, Valeria, two daughters, Irene and Eleanora, along with Valerias mother, Anna, immigrated to America. Two wicker trunks held everything they owned. After landing in New Orleans, LA, they traveled to Alvin, Texas, near Houston, and worked on a farm. In 1953 the family lived for a brief time in Connecticut before moving to Springfield, IL. Joe possessed natural talents with machines and mechanics. He was a self-taught too-and-die man and worked at various Springfield area companies before becoming the third employee of the Bunn-O-Matic Corporation where he remained until retiring 17 years later. Joe first lived on Carpenter Street, then bought a home on Grandview Avenue where he lived for many years. In 1969, Joe moved to an acreage near Sherman and in his spare time tended nursery trees, ornamental shrubs and fresh-cut Christmas trees. Joe loved animals and kept a large loft of homing pigeons. He became a respected breeder and received numerous racing awards. On many Saturdays, Joe spent the day watching the sky for his pigeons returning from a race. A pigeon from hi his loft was hipped to Taiwan where it won a million-dollar purse for the new owner. The most memorable feature of Joe Sochon was his ability to make friends and build enduring relationships. No matter a persons walk-of-life, Joe would find something in common and build on it. Joe genuinely enjoyed making friends and visiting on the patio while viewing his park-kike backyard. One of Joes favorite quotations was an old Russian proverb "Better to have ten friends, then a hundred rubles." Visitation will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, at Kirlin-Egan and Butler Funeral Home, 900 S. Sixth Street, Springfield. Services will be held there at 1 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29, 2007. He will be laid to rest in Oak Hill Cemetery in Riverton. Joe is survived by Valeria, his wife of 62 years, two daughters Irene (John) Barber of Springfield, and Jennie (Carl Wolf) Sochon of Chicago, one granddaughter Brittany (Mike) Workman of Sherman and two great-grandchildren Baily and Jackson Workman. He is preceded in death by a daughter, Eleanora, his parents, six brothers and four sisters.