Larry Sonne

Larry Sonne, 76, of Charles City, passed away Saturday, December 21, 2024, at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa with his loving family by his side.

A funeral service for Larry Sonne will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Charles City with Pastor Paul Phillips from Gospel Lighthouse Church in Floyd, Iowa officiating.  Burial will be at Riverside Cemetery in Charles City.

Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Friday, December 27, 2024, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Charles City and will continue one hour before the service at the church on Saturday.

Larry Dale Sonne was born in Charles City, Iowa, March 23, 1948, to Dale & Madelyn (Fisher) Sonne, the oldest of two children. He and his sister, Jane (Sonne) Elfers (Lynn Elfers), learned all about the value of hard work, appreciation for farm life and an early love of horses. They really enjoyed their Sunday trail rides and games with their horses at the Nashua Fairgrounds. Jane would play the piano; Larry would play the steel guitar while Dale would sing “It Is No Secret”. Larry attended elementary at Colwell School and East St. Charles Rural School before transferring to the Charles City Public School System in 5th grade. He would even run “uphill both ways” to help make weight for wrestling in high school. He was very active in 4H, FFA and graduated with the Class of 1966.

Larry and his good friend, Charlie Carey, were at the Big Four Fair in Nashua, Iowa when Larry met the love of his life, Vicky Marie (Stauffer) Sonne. Larry and Vicky started dating a year later and enjoyed exhibiting their projects at the fair each year. The two were married Sept. 7, 1968. They started their honeymoon with a stop for the stock car races at the Clay County Fair on their way out to Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park. On their way home Larry ended up buying a couple of horses in Nebraska.

Larry and Vicky were excited to start a family of their own and were blessed with Randy Dale, Sandy Sue, and Kathy Marie. Larry was supposed to be buying a team of Palamino horses, but came home instead with Ginger, a 3-year-old pony for a 3-year-old little boy. That pony was the best babysitter, she helped raise all the kids, showing them the fun and love horses bring to the world. The best $35 ever spent.

He treasured family gatherings and watching the family grow through spouses and special friends, Matthew (Kathy), Julie (Randy), Tom and Cody Nehl (Sandy). Grandpa Larry was so excited when Zachary Dale, Cole James, Brandt Nathaniel, and Gwendelyn Grace Sonne were born.

Larry had a soft spot for his 4-legged friends. His horse Lady was a mare that many were compared to but never matched, she saved him from a bull and pulled him out of raging flood waters. He was part of the 40 Horse Hitch for years and spent many summers showing horses all over the U.S., as well as using the horses for weddings, funerals and parades. His dogs Mac and most recently Reba loved him unconditionally and were never far from his side. Daily Ranger rides to check cows, crops or weather, were never without a dog riding along.

Everyone who knew Larry knew how much he loved racing stock cars, his ’65 Mustang, pulling tractors, Ford trucks, IH tractors, and pulling wrenches. Larry shared his passion for motors, livestock, all things agricultural with all the kids and farming, riding & driving horses as a family. His family wasn’t limited to their 3 kids but extended to all the “adopted kids” that shared in the excitement of all the hobbies and helped through all the seasons. He set the bar high for how vehicles should be maintained, tractors should run, and if a job was worth doing, it was worth doing right.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Vicky, and their children and grandchildren; sister, Jane (Lynn) Elfers; sisters-in-law:  Linda (Doug) Sinclair and Lois Stauffer and many nieces and nephews; their God-daughter, Heather Apenhorst Schwarz along with many more loving family members and friends. Larry was preceded in death by his parents, Dale & Madelyn Sonne and Vicky’s parents, Dale & Alice Stauffer, and his brother-in-law, Roger D. Stauffer.

Hauser Weishaar Funeral Home, (641) 228-2323, 1205 South Main Street, Charles City, Iowa 50616 is in charge of local arrangements. Online condolences may be left on the Tribute Wall for the family at www.hauserfh.com.