Frederick Joseph Sommer

Lt. Col. Frederick J. Sommer Frederick J. Sommer, 97, of Edgewater, MD, died Thursday, March 31 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis after a stroke. A funeral mass will be held at 9 a.m. Wednesday at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Annapolis, with burial to follow at the Crownsville Veterans Cemetery. Visitation will be Tuesday, 6-8 p.m. at John M. Taylor Funeral Home, Annapolis. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Air Force Museum Foundation in Dayton, OH, or to St. Mary's Parish in Annapolis, MD. Fred was born September 23, 1918 in Gambrills, MD, son of John and Philomena Sommer. He was the oldest of 7 siblings. He enlisted in the army and completed basic training and artillery training at Ft. Bragg, N.Carolina. After graduating Officer Candidate School, he became a bomber pilot and trained in Texas before reporting to Kimbolton, England during World War II. After completing his tour and receiving a commendation from General Doolittle, the Distinguished Flying Cross and other decorations, he was assigned to Ireland where he ferried planes to England. He then returned to the United States and was stationed at Chanute Air Force Base, Champaign, IL, where he met his wife of 65 years, Betty. Soon after their marriage, he was transferred to Okinawa for the Korean conflict, and upon his return reported to Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico. Fred was a career Air Force officer, flying B-17s, B-29s, B-36s and B 52s and was a member of the Strategic Air Command. He spent the majority of his career at Walker Air Force Base, where he was acting squadron commander, and completed a short tour at Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, TX, where he retired in 1965 after more than 25 years of service to his country. Fred and Betty moved their family to Annapolis in 1965 to rejoin his family. He worked for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company until his retirement. He loved working on the family farm in Gambrills, served on the Admiral Heights Improvement Association Board, and enjoyed traveling all over the United States with Betty for Air Force reunions with his World War II crew mates. He is survived by his children Carol Sommer, Paul Sommer and Sandra (Stephen) Hiller; four grandchildren, Brian Moriarty, Nora Moriarty, Matthew Hiller and Victoria Hiller; a brother Herb Sommer, sister Pauline Slater, and sister Helene (Susie) Whittington; and many nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews and great grand nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Betty, an infant son, and his siblings Henry Sommer, Herman Sommer and Mary Elliott.