Richard C SORENSON

29 APR 1925 - 7 JAN 2022

• BIRTH: 29 APR 1925, Elkhart, Elkhart Co, IN
• DEATH: 7 JAN 2022, Granger, St Joseph, IN

• MARRIAGE: 1956, Hutchinson, Reno, Kansas

INDEX

[N30953] Richard C Sorenson
April 29, 1925 ~ January 7, 2022 (age 96)

Richard C. Sorenson, age 96, of Granger, IN passed peacefully in his sleep Friday evening, January 7, 2022. “Dick” was born 29 April 1925 in Elkhart to the late Clarence and Celia Sorenson. He attended St. Vincent’s grade school and graduated with the class of 1943 at Elkhart High School. He joined the Navy that year and was designated a Naval Aviator and commissioned in Pensacola, FL. Dick was stationed in Okinawa, Hawaii, Japan, Alaska, and San Diego for six years, flying twin engine patrol bombers. He attended Northwestern University two years and pilot school at Purdue University and was stationed in Hutchinson, Kansas three years as an advanced flight and celestial navigation instructor. He spent eight years as Captain of four engine DC6 and DC7 passenger planes across the Atlantic. His last twenty years of flying were in corporate or business aviation. He flew twin engine piston, turboprop, and jet aircraft. During more than forty years of military and commercial flying, he logged more than twenty thousand hours as “pilot in command”. Dick was a bomber pilot in WWII and received the Air Medal for his Korean Service. Dick married Arlene Brown of Hutchison, Kansas in 1956. He was preceded in death by his wife, Arlene; his daughter, Janet Sorenson; his son, Mark Sorenson, and his twin brother, Robert Sorenson. Dick is survived by his two daughters, JoAnne Sorenson of Chicago, IL and Mary Sousley of South Bend; two sons, Robert Sorenson of Huntington Beach, CA and David (Kathy) Sorenson of Granger, IN; five grandchildren, Danielle Nickerson, Megan Pryde, Jennifer Knowlton, Scott Sorenson and Steven Sorenson; five great grandchildren, Joshua, Emma, Isabella, and Anna Knowlton and Reese Lily Sorenson. Dick was an avid Mall walker for more than thirty years. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 1:00 p.m. Thursday January 13, 2022 at St. Pius X Catholic Church, 52553 Fir Road, Granger, IN 46530. Private burial will take place following mass. Friends may visit with the family from 10:30 to 12:30, Thursday as well, at the Palmer Funeral Home - Welsheimer North Chapel, 17033 Cleveland Road, South Bend, IN 46635. Contributions in memory of Richard C. Sorenson can be made to St. Pius X Catholic Church. Online condolences may be made through www.palmerfuneralhomes.com.