[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 27, 2001)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1608-S1609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SONNY O'DAY
Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, on February 7, 2001, the State of
Montana bid farewell to a favored son from Laurel, Montana. ``Sonny
O'Day,'' the Kid from Meaderville, was a local hero and businessman who
held his family, friends and fans close to his heart.
Sonny O'Day (Charles A. George), 1913-2001
Sonny O'Day, the Kid From Meaderville, boxed his final
round, hung up his gloves, snuffed his famous stogie, and
exited the ring quietly in his sleep on Wednesday, January
31.
Sonny, whose legal name was Charles Augustus George, was
born Carlo Giorgi on March 8, 1913, to David and Rosa,
Ragghianti, Giorgi in Lucca, Italy. His father was killed
during World War I. Rosa emigrated to America with her three
children to marry her brother-in-law, Angelo Giorgi, in 1920.
They passed through Ellis Island, where the family name was
Americanized to ``George,'' and took the train through the
vast expanses of their new country to the Montana mining
community of Meaderville, in Butte.
Sonny loved all sports and was a natural athlete. Starting
to box as a 10-year-old, Sonny was a protege of Butte's Pat
Sullivan Boxing Club. He represented the club in amateur
fights throughout the State. He also was an avid football
player, swimmer and diver. The City Championship football
photograph of his Franklin School team was proudly displayed
in his Wall of Fame.
Sonny was privately religious and moral, and proudly
remembered his years as an altar boy at St. Joseph's Parish.
His life-long commitment to family began early when he held
his dying mother in his arms at age 14. After her death,
Sonny gathered his younger sister and invalid stepfather,
Angelo, escorting them back to the family villa in Italy.
After Angelo's death, Sonny immediately returned to the U.S.
to avoid being conscripted into Mussolini's army.
Upon returning from Italy in the early 1930's, the 16-year-
old orphan arrived in New York City, where he was told his
pugilism could earn him money. He paid his dues sleeping in
an Eastside gym and in Central Park in order to get his big
break. Lying about his age, he fought amateur bouts until an
agent spotted him and said, ``You've got talent, kid, but the
Irish control the game. Nobody is gonna come see an Italian
boxer!'' Sonny's reddish hair and freckles were the perfect
fit to a new identity--Sonny O'Day--and new birthdate--St.
Patrick's Day.
Spanning the next 17 years, welterweight Sonny fought 529
fights, lost 32 and had, as Sonny used to say, ``some draws
and the rest wins,'' in Madison Square Garden, Sunset Garden,
and other major venues throughout the United States. He first
met World Heavy Weight Champion Jack Dempsey when he refereed
one of Sonny's early fights.
Living by the adage: ``Smile and the world smiles with you,
cry and you cry alone,'' Sonny was known to greet strangers
with his famous smile, booming voice, crunching handshake,
and the introductory greeting, ``Shake the hand that shook
the world!''
His love of Butte was as strong as his handshake. He rarely
called the city by name. To him, it was ``The Sacred City,''
and Butte cherished him in return, calling him ``The Mayor of
Meaderville,'' ``The Meaderville Phantom,'' and ``Butte's
Boxing Star.''
Sonny took his professional boxing earnings and opened two
famous Butte nightclubs in the late 1930's: The Savoy and
Melody Lane. There, he entertained sports and Hollywood
greats including Gene Tunney, Cary Grant and Barbara Hutton.
He proudly served the U.S. Army during World War II, and
married Carra Burton on September 20, 1944, while stationed
in Gadsden, Alabama. The couple returned to Montana after the
war where he established his bar and tavern in Laurel.
Sonny O'Day's ``Boxing Hall of Champions,'' complete with a
boxing ring, was his passion. He entertained beneath his
pictures and memorabilia with stories that rhapsodized his
listeners. He loved every minute of it, and bragged that he
would never retire. Children came in for free candy, and
parents came in for Sonny to give the kids their first
lessons in self-defense. Sonny's bar was a local tourist
attraction for years, and is listed as one of Montana's
favorites in a number of publications.
Sonny's St. Patrick's Day celebrations were legendary for
thousands of fans who descended on the community. It was
customary for the Governor--Republican or Democrat--to call
Sonny on St. Patrick's Day to wish him happy birthday. In
1986, Governor Ted Schwinden decided a phone call wasn't good
enough, and came to Laurel to host Sonny's St. Patrick's Day
party. The Laurel Chamber of Commerce surprised Sonny on St.
Patrick's Day 1995 by honoring him for 50 years of business.
The highlight was a celebrated bout between Sonny and special
guest Todd Foster, fellow Montana boxing welterweight and
1988 Olympian. Foster allowed Sonny his final knockout punch
for the ``Downtown Laurel Businessmen's Crown.''
In 1952, Golden Gloves Boxing came to Montana, and Sonny
helped train these young fighters. At the Shrine Temple in
Billings, Golden Gloves championships of an eight-State
region took place, and Sonny refereed the very first bout and
many more over the years.
When boxing turned professional in Montana, Sonny served on
the State Athletic Commission for 26 years under seven
different governors. This led him to bring 77
[[Page S1609]]
professional bouts to Montana, including three world
championship fights. As chairman of the Commission, he
promoted the Gene Fullmer-Joey Giardello Middleweight
Championship of the World title match on April 29, 1960, in
Bozeman.
Basements and gyms all over Billings and Laurel were the
sites for years to come as Sonny trained young fighters. He
estimated that he helped develop 2,500-3,000 fighters during
those years.
The Student Council of Eastern Montana College, now Montana
State University-Billings, originated the annual Sonny O'Day
Smoker, a fund raiser that entertained the greater Billings
area from 1975-81.
Sonny's civic community service included 30 years as a
Kiwanian, including service as a State Lieutenant Governor; a
lifetime member of the Elks; and a founding member of the
Montana Gambling Commission. Although he was a
professional boxer, he did not believe in corporal
punishment, and his daughters fondly remember they never
received anything but love from ``those registered
hands!'' Whenever the mines in Butte went on strike, he
would spearhead caravans of trucks to take food and
presents to the miners. He never forgot to feed the alley
cats--even on holidays. For a man who had earned his
living by the ``manly act of self-defense,'' as Sonny
called it, those who knew him saw a gentle soul who
lavished kisses and never hesitated to cry tears of
sadness or joy.
His love of cooking was legendary, and no one could enter
his home without being invited to dinner. His family never
knew who Sonny would bring home to dinner. Jack Dempsey,
Sugar Ray Seale, numerous governors and senators, including
Mike Mansfield, sat at the family table in Laurel.
Sonny never forgot his Italian roots, and continued to
visit and support his sister and her family in Lucca until
her death. Visits to the family villa in Lucca rejuvenated
him. He was especially proud of the family legacy: The
Ragghianti Art Museum, renowned in the province of Tuscany.
Sonny is survived by his wife of 56 years, Carra Burton
George; his three daughters: Mary-Glynn, Terry, Cromwell of
Missoula and grandchildren Charlie, Lauren and David; Nancy,
Sam, Talboom of Green River, Wyo. and grandchildren Justin,
Carlee, and Jake; and Shelley, Larry, Van Atta of Billings
and grandchildren John, Nick, and Marissa; sister-in-law Lois
George and her children Michael and Mary Grace, of San Diego,
Calif.; and nieces Elisa Mussi and Lalla Volpi, and nephew
Carlo Volpi, of Lucca, Italy. He was preceded in death by his
parents; brother Gus George; sister Mary Volpi; and son-in-
law John Pingree.
God surely must be dancing in Heaven, knowing you're
joining Him, Sonny; just as you surely will tell Him, ``It's
all in the footwork.''
____________________