Burpee, Carpenter & Hutchins Funeral Home

VINALHAVEN - Alton F. “Sonny” Oakes, Jr. passed away on July 13, 2012 at the age of 87, after a long illness.

Sonny was born on January 5, 1925, in Vinalhaven, the son of Alton and Agnes (Conway) Oakes. He graduated from Vinalhaven High School in 1943. Nine days later he was in naval training in Newport, RI. He was in the U.S. Naval Air Force for three years, serving as an Aviation Machinist Mate First Class and as section leader. He traveled from Florida to Oregon, training men and trouble shooting.

Upon returning to Vinalhaven, Sonny married Cynthia Tupper on February 4, 1950. He worked at several jobs before becoming a foreman at the B&M Plant in 1952. In the early 60s, B&M closed leaving Sonny to look for new work to support his young family. Link Sanborn approached him with the possibility of becoming the new bank manager of Depositor’s Trust Company in Vinalhaven. Sonny attended the New England School of Banking and became the manager of Depositor’s Trust in 1965. He spent the rest of his career at the bank, which later became a branch of Key Bank. He retired from banking on January 31, 1991 as a vice president.

During his working career, Sonny lobstered in his spare time. He had a small outboard and pulled around 100 traps because he loved the chance to be on the water. He began taking his grandson, Joseph with him, and as he aged, he let Joe do more and more of the work while he sat back and told stories of days gone past.

Sonny was very active in his community that he was very proud of. He served for 20 years on the Board of Selectmen. He spent 45 years as a member of the Island Community Medical Services Board, 25 of which were as president. He was a founding member of Fox Islands Electric Co-op. Sonny was a lifetime member of the Moses Webster Masonic Lodge and the Vinalhaven Legion, serving time as Commander of each. He also was a lifetime member of the Vinalhaven Lion’s Club and served as King Lion for several years.

Sonny enjoyed sports and singing more than anything else. He loved baseball and was a shortstop in high school. He played with the Vinalhaven Chiefs baseball team, playing right field and catcher for nine years. He waited patiently for 80 years to see the Red Sox win the World Series. He was also in many island plays and was in a local singing group, “The Islandaires” for 15 years. He had a beautiful tenor voice and sang as much as possible right up to two days before leaving us.
Sonny is survived by his wife, Cynthia, of 62 years, his children, Russell, Karen and Jill and her husband, Alan Koenig, two grandchildren, Joseph Pratt and his girlfriend Amanda Dougherty and Whitney Pratt and her boyfriend, Robert Breault. He also leaves his sister and brother-in-law, Marion and Richard Swears, several nephews, great nephews and nieces, and many cousins.

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at the Union Church. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations in Sonny’s memory be made to the Island Community Medical Center, 15 Medical Center Loop, Vinalhaven, ME 04863 or to the Vinalhaven Emergency Medical Services Team, Attn: Burke Lynch, P.O. Box 815, Vinalhaven, ME, 04863.