JARS v63n1 - In Memoriam: Folmer Sogaard

In Memoriam: Folmer Sogaard
Joanne Campbell

The Lewis County Chapter lost a distinguished member when Folmer Sogaard passed away on July 17, 2008, at the age of 93. Folmer was born in Tilden, Nebraska, and was the oldest of ten children. The Sogaard family farmed in Nebraska to make a living and later moved to a Danish community in Solvang, Calif. Folmer graduated from Santa Ynez High School in 1939, enrolled in pilot training school and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S Army Air Corp in 1940. He served as a Command Pilot for 18 months at Port Mosby, New Guinea. Folmer was the pilot of the Boeing built B-17 which was named the "Fighting Swede" in his honor. Author James Murphy, in his book Skip Bombing, said "Lieutenant Folmer Sogaard the Swede, weighed about 118 pounds, dripping wet. He looked mild-mannered but was a fierce competitor, as the enemy soon learned." Major Sogaard received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Clusters. The 29-year-old pilot was a veteran of 56 combat missions, logging 200 hours of combat flying in the Southwest Pacific. Following the war he separated from the Army and received a commission in the newly created U. S. Air Force as an LTC in 1947.

He married Marine Sgt. Florence Toothaker in 1945 and had a family of three daughters. They pursued his military career, traveling widely in Europe and the United States. In 1960 he retired from the Air Force, and they returned to Centralia where Folmer became the manager of the Chamber of Commerce.

Folmer was a tireless promoter of Centralia and its business community, loved to organize parades, and decorate for Fiesta Days. He worked selflessly to improve his community by planting rhododendron gardens and the arboretum in Fort Borst Park. Folmer loved to garden, and became an expert in the growing and propagation of rhododendrons. He was an energetic member of the American Rhododendron Society. He and Florence were awarded the chapter's highest honor, the Bronze Medal, in 1981.

Folmer will long be remembered for his dry wit and sense of humor, and greatly missed by his family and many friends.