Emil Selnor Sorensen, Jr.'s Obituary
To God he is known as Emil Selnor Sorensen, Jr.To his parents and his relatives, he was known as Junior.To his wife of nearly 70 years, Val, he was known as Emil, my sweetheart.To his children, Maren, Paul, and Mark, he was known as daddy, and later Dad.To his daughters-in-laws, Anita and Lena, and son-in-law Glenn, he was just known as Emil.To his grandchildren, Mia, Rachel, Dane, Anna, and Julia, he was known as Grandpa.To his great grandchildren, Johannah, Ava, and Claire, he was Grandpa Emil.To his childhood (and later his adult friends), he was known as a jokester, a debater; very smart (graduating at age of 17 from high school), a friend for life, and an honest and moral man.To his Upsala College friends, he was depicted as Little Caesar on a soapbox and class president, only later to become Vice President of the Upsala Extension in Sussex County.To the Army, serving under General Eisenhower and assigned to the 82th Airborne Division, he was a counterintelligence WWII hunter and interrogator for Hitler war criminals before and during the Nuremburg Trials.To his in-laws, he was the right guy for their feisty blonde haired, blue-eyed daughter, Valnette. After they married, the growing family moved from Philadelphia, to Richmond, Virginia, to Sparta, New Jersey – having a child in each location.To the residents of Sparta, New Jersey, he was known as the town councilman and mayor who paved the way for a growing community to expand the school system, brought talented people in to run for town council in order to resolve teacher’s contracts that couldn’t be settled by the school board, dealt with expanded programs by the state and federal government, and moved the township to a manager form of government which expunged the council’s and mayor’s salaries.To the citizens of Sussex County, New Jersey, he was known as a fair and honest Freeholder/County Councilman who lead the various county departments in expanding government services such as building the juvenile detention center, building the vocational school, and again bringing in talented people to administer those programs.To people with whom he had conflicting viewpoints, he was able to break the tension in his relationship with them through his humor. On one occasion his best friend, George, vehemently disagreed with a matter brought before the town council and declared, “This will pass over my dead body.” When the measure was passed, Emil turned to his best friend and said, “So…when’s the funeral?”He was known to the federal government as the spoiler. He was appointed by the New Jersey governor to be on a tri-state committee to look into the federal government’s proposal to build a dam on the Delaware River which would flood one of the most beautiful parts of Sussex County, NJ, Pennsylvania, and New York. Emil brought in specialists from the county, state police, waste management owners, and civil engineers from the road departments to investigate the impact of the proposal on the rural county. When they presented their report to the governor, the cost was so prohibitive that the governors of three states convinced the federal government to change their plans from a dam to a park.To the residents of Stillwater, where Emil and Val moved after his retiring from owning a small business, he was the questioner. He attended town council meetings and questioned and debated their actions and later was asked to run for office. He became mayor of the small township. At that time, he was known for holding the record of being mayor of two local towns during his lifetime.To people seeking office, he was their advisor and mentor, introducing them to the voting public, advising them on their platforms, and who they should seek as their supporters. He encouraged people to volunteer or run for various committees and political positions.To the members of his beloved church, he was known as the elder. He taught Sunday school to the teenagers, served on the building committee in charge of building the church and parsonage, and brought forth his wisdom to settle controversy over trivial as well as major issues. Because of his leadership, he became president of the congregation and served on the church council. He emceed many church functions and celebrations of the church and church members.Emil, baptized and confirmed in the Christian faith, always made God the center of his life which was reflected in his communing with family, friends, church, community, and country. It was so fitting for God to choose him to bring him home on Maundy Thursday during the holiest week of the year.
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Describe a day with Emil you’ll never forget.
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