Robert Louis San Soucie (1927 - 2017)

Born 30 Apr 1927 in Adams, Berkshire, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Patricia (Molm) San Soucie — married 5 Sep 1953 in Madison, Dane, Wisconsin, United States

Descendants

Died 13 Mar 2017 at age 89 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States

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This profile is part of the San_Soucie Name Study.

He was the son of Leo San Soucie and Ora Mae Sturm.

Biography

Family

Robert was born April 30, 1927 in Adams, Massachusetts. He was the son of Leo San Soucie and Ora Mae Sturm.^[1]

His brother, Bill, was born 4 Feb 1931 also in Adams, Massachusetts.

His mother, Ora Sturm, left the household shortly after the birth, leaving Leo to raise the two kids with the assistance of Leo's sisters.

High School Valedictorian

Adams HS, Class of 1944

Bobby was Valedictorian of his High School class.

Robert San Soucie HS Valedictorian

Interesting Note: 73 years after Robert was Valedictorian of his High School class, his grandson, also named Robert San Soucie, was Valedictorian of his HS class at J.J. Pearce HS in Dallas, TX. ^[2]

US Navy Service

After High School, he entered the US Navy, where he served on the USS Kenneth Whiting.^[3][4]

College - University of Massachusetts

Two Adams Boys Get Their Diplomas Today Robert L SanSoucie and Edward M. Cynarski Graduate at University of Mass.

Two Adams youths, Robert L. San Soucie, son of Leo R. San Soucie of 80 Park street, and Edward M. Cynareki, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Cynarski of 7 Cook street, received bachelor of arts degrees from the University of Massachusetts at annual commencement exercises this morning at Amherst. Mr. San Soucie was the highest ranking student of a class of 521.

Mr. San Soucie, a graduate of Adams high school with the class of 1944, received the Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics, Summa cum Laude. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, national honorary society; Sigma Xi, national honorary society of research scientists, and the Phi Beta Kappa association of Massachusetts. He received the Phi Kappa Phi scholarship award, was Phi Beta scholar of the senior class; was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, Mathematics and Newman clubs, summer session social committee, German club, chairman of the Connecticut Valley student science conference, solicitation chairman for the campus community chest and chairman of the inter-fraternity council constitution committee. He has accepted an appointment to the research faculty of the department of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin where he will do research and graduate work for his doctor's degree. The Wisconsin fellowship award is for $1,100. He also won a $1,000 fellowship to McGill university at Montreal, which he relinquished because of the Wisconsin award. He served in the U. S. navy during World War 2.

His father, his brother, William, an aunt, Miss Hectorine San Soucie, and his uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Louis San Soucie of North Adams, attended the graduation ^[5]

Graduate School - University of Wisconsin

Robert earned his doctorate in Abstract Algebra in 1953 at the University of Wisconsin, where he met Mary Patricia Molm.

Marriage

On September 5, 1953, Robert married Mary Patricia Molm .^[6]

Together they had 3 children:

1. Richard San Soucie
2. Marc San Soucie
3. Mary San Soucie

Interesting note, on September 5, 2009, their son Rick married Nancy Levin Geyer. Nancy's parents also were married on September 5.

Employment

After receiving his PhD, Robert taught Mathematics at the University of Oregon, in Eugene, where his first son was born.

Robert worked at the following companies:

Sylvania Electronic System Division, Buffalo, New York Electronics and Space Division, Emerson Electric, St. Louis, Missouri Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette, New York, New York

Obituary

He died on March 13, 2017 in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States

Robert L. San Soucie (PhD, 1953; Advisor: Bruck) died March 13, 2017, just shy of his 90th birthday. He was born in Adams, Massachusetts, to Leo and Ora (Sturm) San Soucie. He is survived by his wife, Pat, sons Rick and Marc, daughter Mary Frances, a brother, William, seven grandchildren, and many nephews and nieces. Bob joined the Navy in late 1945, serving in the Pacific Ocean on the USS Kenneth Whiting, starting just a few months before the end of the war. He then participated in Operation Crossroads, where the atomic bomb went through further testing. Bob excelled in school. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1949, and then, on scholarships and teaching fees, earned his doctorate in Abstract Algebra in 1953 at the University of Wisconsin, where he met Mary Patricia Molm. He and Pat were married in September 1953 and started off to Eugene, Oregon, where Bob had a position teaching mathematics. Four years later he left the academic world and moved to Buffalo, New York, for industrial pursuits with Sylvania Corporation. After a time the family, now numbering five, moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where Bob took an executive position with Emerson Electric. His work at Emerson Electric found him traveling the globe, visiting with defense departments in countries all over the world. In the 1970’s the family moved to New Jersey, where Bob worked in investment banking at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. He served on the Board of Sealed Air Corporation for decades. Later he owned his own small business. Bob and Pat moved back to Oregon from New Jersey in the late 1990’s, living first in Clackamas County and later in Hillsboro, where Bob passed away. Bob was most proud of his 63-year marriage to Pat, his three kids, and his doctorate, and loved the many family members and friends he knew in his life. Bob found joy in all the people that would come and pontificate with him, about any subject. Many will remember sitting around his kitchen table, discussing and dissecting topics large and small. ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ Copy of 30 Apr 1927 Birth Certificate scanned and available in Images. https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/San_Soucie-2-2 Birth Certificate:
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGh2-RqUCJw
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Kenneth_Whiting_(AV-14)
4. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/sharing/14359361?h=ba5925&utm_campaign=bandido-webparts&utm_source=post-share-modal&utm_medium=copy-url
5. ↑ Publication: The North Adams Transcript Location: North Adams, Massachusetts Issue Date: Monday, June 6, 1949 Page 8
6. ↑ Copy of Marriage Certificate https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/San_Soucie-2-3
7. ↑ https://www.math.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/math_news_2018_web.pdf#page=12

1930; Census Web Address 1930 Census Record for Robert San Soucie

1940 Census Web Address 1940 Census Record for Robert San Soucie