On March 20, 2018 William Phillip Sonderman passed away peacefully. Born June 10, 1925 Bill was raised in an ethnically diverse neighborhood in east Baltimore. Educated at Baltimore Polytechnic, he was recruited by the Glen L. Martin Company as an inspector of engine parts for the B-26 Marauder, an important fighter plane used in the Pacific theater of WWII. After the war, he completed his education with a degree in mathematics. He began a long and successful career as a quality control engineer for Diecraft Inc of Sparks MD and later finished his career in the optics department of Bausch and Lomb. During his employ the first "soft" contact lense was developed.
"Cagey" Bill, as he was known, was a serious poker player and an astute horse race handicapper. He enjoyed playing the ponies up and down the east coast, especially at his two favorite MD racetracks Bowie and Pimlico. He and his wife Audrey attended the Preakness for 40 consecutive years. An accomplished duckpin bowler, Bill played for the top teams in the highly competitive Baltimore city major leagues. He appeared numerous times on television while rolling in the prestigious Evening Sun tournament.
Bill and his wife Audrey who passed away in 2016 were married for 68 years. They moved to their first home in Westview Park in 1958. In 1990 they began a long and happy retirement in a home they designed and built near the Mason-Dixon Line. They were active parishioners of St. John the Baptist Church in New Freedom, PA where they served on several boards.
Bill is survived by his only son, Randy and daughter-in-law Nan and his devoted grandson Rainer.
Also survived by his younger brother Robert A. Sonderman and his younger sister Doris Parker, loving nieces Patricia Kurzmiller, Joan Prodey, and Barbara McCann. Family and Friends will honor Bill's life on Saturday March 31, 2018 from 2-4pm. Eulogy will be promptly at 3pm. Bill will be interred with his beloved Audrey at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens
