Harold Sodamann

Harold Sodamann, 94, of St. George, Kansas, formerly of Paola, Kansas, passed away June 23, 2016 in Manhattan, Kansas. Harold was born May 7, 1922 to Albert and Hettie Tenny Sodamann. His birth took place on the C. O. Tenny Homestead three miles east of Beagle, Kansas, where Harold spent every summer during all his grade school years. The home is still being lived in. His father worked as an electrical engineer at the Osawatomie State Hospital and Harold attended Plum Creek grade school through the seventh grade. He was fortunate to have had outstanding teachers in Gladys Roman, Hazel King and Bessie Wright. He attended the Osage township rural high school, where Chester Fleming encouraged him to become a teacher. He graduated in 1940. In September 1940 he was the first member of his family to attend college. After one year, he received a certificate to teach school. At the end of three years he was drafted into the World War II armed service. He was assigned to the 32nd Infantry Division and experienced action in New Guinea, the Philippines, and the occupation of Japan. He was honorably discharged and returned home February 28, 1944. Following his arrival home, on March 17, he married Arlene Dalrymple. They attended high school together. They became the parents of three sons, David of Topeka, Mark and Paul of St. George. Arlene passed away on August 2, 2015 and they had been married for 71 years. He returned to teaching in Fontana, Osawatomie, and Parker, Kansas. Along with teaching, he returned to Pittsburg State Teacher"s College and earned his BS and MS degrees and joined the administrative staff in Ottawa following his assignment with the Wellington, KS elementary schools, where he served as director of Elementary Education. During these years the State Department of Education appointed him to a committee that examined federal grants in education. It was the committee"s responsibility to approve those grants that would best serve the schools in the improvement of curriculum. As a part of these studies, he attended Emporia State University and received the Specialist in Education degree. With this curriculum background he was invited to join the staff at Ft. Hayes University where he taught Elementary Teachers. Due to aging relatives, they returned to Miami County where he acted as Director of Curriculum for Paola Public Schools. During the 17 years that followed he became interested in aviculture. In his aviary he kept numerous kinds of cage birds. He pioneered many new colors in the canaries and as a result attended bird shows, studied the standards by which the birds are judged and was among the first persons granted the license to judge for the American Federation of Aviculture, the National Cage Bird Show, and the American Color Breeders Association; co-founder of International Gloster Breeders Association; co-founder of the International Old Variety Canary Association. He served as president of the National Cage Bird Society for seven years. The International Old Variety Canary Association has a prestigious award known as the Harold Sodamann Award which has been given annually for the past seven years. Preceding him in death were his wife, Arlene, parents and a sister Dorothy Mills of Warrensburg, MO. Surviving are his three sons David of Topeka, Mark (Fran) and Paul (Cindy) of St. George, Kansas, and a sister Evelyn Wheatcroft of Liberal, KS, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Memorial contributions may be made to the Fontana Methodist Church, c/o Mrs. Jerry Tooley, 35285 Hedge Lane, Paola, KS 66071. To share a memory of Harold or leave a special condolence message for his family, please click the Share Memories tab.