Lillian Rokytova Sonberg

Lillian Rokytova Sonberg was born in Zlin, Czechoslovakia and came to the United States when Bata Shoe Company constructed its first shoe manufacturing facility in Belcamp, Maryland. This was at a time when Hitler had invaded Czechoslovakia and Lillian was a teenager. As you can imagine, it was an incredibly tough decision to leave her home, her family and friends but the outlook of war and Hitler's atrocities were already known. She and her family agreed the opportunity to leave the country was the best option. Lillian applied and was accepted by Bata to come to the U.S. as a result of her work experience (she was already employed by Bata at their Czech factory), education level, and fluency in both German and Czech languages. Her job functions at Belcamp would include the training of an American work force to produce and assemble shoes using Bata's manufacturing processes and machinery.

So, in the summer of 1939, Lillian had a 7-day trans-Atlantic Ocean voyage on the ship Bremen, followed by a bus trip from New York City to Belcamp along with other Bata instructors and finally arrived at her new home in the U.S. along the Bush River. As Lillian was one of several single women who came to Belcamp, she lived at a house located on property known as Sophia's Dairy. Much of the initial time was spent unpacking, cleaning, and setting up the shoe manufacturing machinery. As a result Lillian contracted pneumonia probably related to the cleaning chemicals and was hospitalized for several weeks at Harford Memorial Hospital. Upon her return to Belcamp, she met her future husband, Henry, who was working with a contractor providing construction and painting services for the Bata facility.

As a result of the world turmoil going on with Germany and the ever-changing U.S. politics, Lillian and those Czech individuals who came as instructors were notified in 1940 by the U.S. Department of Immigration they were considered to be in the country illegally and would need to leave. Lillian was scheduled to be transferred to another Bata facility in Haiti. Instead, with the hope that she could remain in the U.S., Henry and Lillian were married. However, the fight to have Lillian become a U.S. citizen took many trips to Washington D.C. and letter writing by Henry to many embassies. The issue was that each country had an annual quota set by the U.S. for the number of persons allowed to become U.S. citizens and Czechoslovakia's quota was already met for many years in the future. Finally, in 1944, Canada had availability in their quota so Henry and Lillian, along with son Alex, traveled to Canada, and Lillian reentered the U.S. as a Canadian citizen which allowed her to pursue becoming a legal U.S. citizen.

For many years, Henry and Lillian operated a general store in Abingdon which also housed the U.S. post office where Henry was the postmaster. Lillian subsequently applied for and became a postal service employee, serving initially part-time to relieve Henry during his lunch. As the war wound down, and blackouts were lifted, Lillian was able to contact her Czech family and finally return to Zlin to visit them some 10+ years after arriving in the U.S. She continued to regularly visit her Czech family and friends through the early 2000s.

In 1966 the small post office that was part of the store had outgrown its location and a new, larger post office was opened in close proximity to the original Abingdon Fire Company. Lillian and Henry continued to serve the community in the new facility. Because of the growth of the post office and the introduction of supermarkets in nearby communities, a decision to close the general store in 1968 was made. Lillian retired from the postal service as an Assistant Postmaster in the 1970s.

Lillian has always loved music and the performing arts from when she attended school in Czechoslovakia. As her sons began attending school, she joined the PTA and began looking for ways in which music and the arts could be further brought into the school system. A series of fortunate events in the 1950s starting with a conversation in the general store by Lillian with a lady by the name of Hazel Minch and resulted in the formation of the School Concerts Committee of Harford County of which Lillian became a member in 1958. The Committee modeled itself after the nationwide Young Audiences organization and its goal was to work with school principals and PTAs in the county to provide cultural and performing arts programs to the schools. Lillian worked primarily with Old Post Road Elementary and Edgewood Jr.-Sr. High Schools and eventually became a co-chair for 10 years. In 1978, Lillian was appointed to the Harford County Cultural Advisory Board by the Harford County Council where she became a coordinator in 1986 for the Artists-in-Education program which was sponsored by the Maryland State Arts Council. The Board's purpose was to promote performing and visual arts residencies to allow artists, poets, and musicians to perform at Harford County schools. She continued to be involved with these programs into the 1990s.

Lillian also served in various positions, including president, for the Harford Symphony Association (HSA) which was active from 1960 – 1986 until the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall opened in Baltimore. During that time, the Association brought the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) to various public performances at some of the larger high school auditoriums in the county. After the HSA disbanded, Lillian worked with Harford Community College, the BSO, and former members of HSA through the Friends of Classical Music to bring the BSO to the college for an annual performance.

Lillian joined Cokesbury United Methodist Church in 1942 and taught or assisted in teaching various Sunday school classes for over 40 years. She was also actively involved in the "trick-or-treat for Unicef" children's program, the UM camping program, and the World's Children Organization where her classes "adopted" a child from another country.

In 1980, when Henry retired, Lillian and Henry became very active with the Harford County Department of Social Services Abingdon/Edgewood/Joppa FISH program to deliver food to people in the county who were in need of temporary assistance. In 1986, Lillian began working as a volunteer with the Harford County Office of Community Services and then with the Fuel Fund Program to work with local utility companies to prevent people-in-need from having their electric shut off and also to provide emergency assistance with heating oil especially in the winter. Eventually these and other community service programs became part of the County's Community Action Agency.

Lillian was nominated and selected as one of Harford County's Living Treasures in 1995. Additional information about her and the Living Treasures program can be found at the Bel Air Library.

And so now, Lillian has moved on to a better place and is rejoined with her beloved husband, Henry, who died almost 30 years ago. Lillian is survived by her two sons: Alex and Greg; four grandchildren: Carina Sterling, Gregory A., Joanne Leisher, and Kira E.; and a great grandson, Thomas A. Leisher. She also was very close to her niece, Valerie Petrovic, and her sister's children, Marcela, who lives in Czechoslovakia, and Jaromir, who lives in Norway.

Lillian, we will always remember you as a wonderful and loving mother; Babi (Czech word for grandmother); teacher; a person who loved the church, the cultural arts, and the environment; and a dedicated volunteer to help those in Harford County who were encountering tough times. Our hearts, memories, and love for you will always be there.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cokesbury United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 85, Abingdon, Maryland 21009 or Anita Leight Estuary Center, 700 Otter Point Road, Abingdon, Maryland 21009. Make checks payable to OPCA