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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Area Fight Coach, Trainer Sonner Passes Away At 80

From Staff Reports

Memorial mass will be said this morning for Kaley Sonner, a major figure in Spokane boxing circles for more than 50 years.

Sonner, a lifelong Spokane resident, died Thursday. He was 80.

Services will begin at 11 a.m. in St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, 2320 N. Cedar. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery.

An amateur fighter himself in the early 1930s, Sonner gave up the ring to teach the sport. For years, he coached youngsters at gymnasiums around the city, gaining a wide reputation for his work with boys from poor and broken homes.

The gravel-voiced former Spokane Humane Society employee, seldom seen without a small dog on his arm, also trained numerous amateur and professional fighters at the local, state and national levels.

His sons, Kaley Jr., who was known as Kelly, and Bill Sonner, were among his most successful proteges.

Kelly Sonner, a featherweight, won all but three of his 85 amateur fights. He was unbeaten in six professional starts before he was killed in action, serving with the U.S. Army in Vietnam, in early 1968.

Kaley Sonner’s best-known professional fighter was Kirk Barrow, a top 10 light heavyweight in the 1950s. Prior to that, he worked with the legendary Tiger Jack Fox.

For almost two decades, through the mid-1970s, Sonner owned and operated Kaley’s Tavern at 218 N. Stevens.

In 1969, he received a 25-year award from the Inland Empire Sports Writers and Broadcasters Association.

He is survived by Bill Sonner, now a North Carolina resident, and daughters Sandra Eddy of Redmond, Wash., and Kathy Halsey of Nine Mile Falls.

, DataTimes