William Paul Sontag Jr.

William Paul Sontag, Jr. passed away on September 29, 2017 in Orlando, FL at age 69. He was born in Jacksonville, FL on August 7, 1948 and continued to reside there. He will be dearly missed by his loving wife of 35 years, Patricia; his ex-wife, Judy; his son, Joshua (Jessica); daughter, Jasmine; his step daughters, Amanda and Kimberly; and step son, Ray (Kay). He was known as "Grandaddy" and the ultimate playmate to his loving grandchildren, Jonas, Mia, Anders (Josh), Chloe, Evie, Greyson (Amanda), Kayla, Amanda, Lauren, Dustin (Jasmine), Mitchell, Kirsten, Suriya (Ray), Madison, Molly, Megan, Makayla (Kimberly). Paul leaves behind his sisters, Dorothy (Bob), Teresa (Donnie), Hilda, and Della (Earl); his brothers, Gary (Denise), Wayne and Malcolm. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Paul, Sr. and Leila Eileen.

Upon graduating from Andrew Jackson High School in 1966, he served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 4 years. After serving his country, he received his Certificate of Apprenticeship from the State of Florida Department of Commerce as a qualified operating engineer. This would set him on a life long path and love of cranes which took him across the country and globe to places such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Panama and Trinidad-Tobago. He accumulated vast experience in operating heavy equipment across various projects and industries from commercial, marine (offshore), and industrial. These ranged from erecting the largest overhead crane (at the time) in North America on an offshore power facility, operating the world's largest (at the time) fixed pile driving rig in the Persian Gulf, training Saudi nationals in heavy equipment operation, as well as participating in multiple domestic projects including the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL, the former Independent Life Building and St. Vincent's Hospital complex in Jacksonville, FL. He was a life long member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 673 for over 45 years.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 5th from 6:00pm-8:00pm at Hardage-Giddens, Riverside Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 7242 Normandy Boulevard, Jacksonville, FL.

HARDAGE-GIDDENS, RIVERSIDE MEMORIAL PARK and FUNERAL HOME, 7242 Normandy Boulevard is serving the family.