Far Post Soccer Supply
in downtown Portland near Providence Park, 2016. Linfield Oak Leaves yearbook,
1973.
WILDCATVILLE -- Your name is
William Howard Jepson III. How, did get your "Sonny" nickname?
SONNY -- My legal name honors the fact I was named after my grandfather, whom I adored. The nickname was one I had been called from as early as I can remember. My parents thought calling me "Bill", which my father went by, didn't fit my personality. Fortunately, boxer Sonny Liston and singer Sonny Bono, blazed the trail for me to not be teased about it.
WILDCATVILLE -- Where were you born and where did you grow up and go to school K-12?
SONNY -- I was born in Miami Beach, Florida, in 1949, after my parents moved from Panama. From Florida we moved to Longview, Washington, when I was barely a year old. I remained there through junior high. In Longview, I went to elementary school (K-6) at Kessler and junior high (7-9) at Monticello. I had a really enjoyable time in Longview, with good friends and some success in sports. If it were not for my folks getting a divorce, I'm sure I would have stayed in Longview for many years.
My mother remarried. We moved to Vancouver, Washington, weeks before high school started. If we’d stayed in Longview, I would have attended R. A. Long High School. In Vancouver, I enrolled at Hudson Bay High. I was only there a couple of months because things were not working out between my mother and me. I moved to Salem, Oregon, and lived with my dad.
At South Salem, I had a great high school experience. That was primarily due to my participation in athletics. My senior year (1966-1967), our 1966 football team was undefeated. South only had three touchdowns scored against it in the regular season. But, in the state championship game at Civic Stadium in Portland, we lost to Hillsboro. South’s coach, Marv Heater, and Hillsboro’s coach, Ad Rutschman, were Linfield grads and played football at Linfield for Coach Paul Durham.
WILDCATVILLE -- Why did you attend Linfield?
SONNY -- Due to South’s football success my senior year, some schools were interested in me becoming a student-athlete and playing football. I spoke with the coach at University of Puget Sound, an assistant at Washington State, and ultimately visited Linfield. In addition to Coach Heater three of the other four South coaches were Linfield grads. That helped steer me there. I met on campus with Coach Durham. I made my decision to attend Linfield as I rode back to Salem on my motorcycle.
WILDCATVILLE -- What year did you graduate from Linfield?
SONNY -- Having first started at Linfield in the fall of 1967, I should have graduated in 1971. I graduated in 1973 with a dual major in business and economics. When I went to enroll in the fall of 1968, Arnold Mills, the Linfield (financial) controller, said I still owed $300 from the previous semester. So, I could not enroll. Coach Rutchman had just begun his coaching football at Linfield after moving from Hillsboro High. (That happened after Coach Durham moved from Linfield to the University of Hawaii.). Coach told me that we'd work something out. But, I was somewhat in a dark place, so I elected to leave Linfield, with hopes of earning enough money to return the following year. I had been on my own for nearly two years. It was the 1960s and I was definitely a "free spirit." Also felt I needed to figure out what I was going to do with my life.
After a year and a half of what I call my "magical mystery tour" I decided I needed to get back to Linfield. It was finals week in December, I called Coach Rutschman. He told me to make my way to McMinnville. I did. I was working at a motel in Eugene, and hitchhiked to Mac two days later.
Coach was great, and I owe him so much. Although he couldn't offer me a football scholarship until the following fall, I was able to borrow my tail off, and reenrolled. At one point I had three work-study jobs during the semester. While they were not terribly demanding physically, they did help teach me the importance of time management.
One summer in McMinnville I worked for Ez Koch at City Sanitary, hauling garbage. My day began at 5:30 in the morning. I'd return to campus at about 12:30 to 1:00 in the afternoon and take a quick nap. Then, I worked at the McMinnville plywood mill, White City Plywood (which became Coast Range Plywood) from 3-11:30 p.m., with my dear friend Joe Simpson, classmate and Linfield football teammate. It was hard work, but the money was good, which fit my requirements. I'm very proud I was able to graduate in 1973, with honors, and also paid back every penny of my state and federal loans.
WILDCATVILLE -- When you graduated from Linfield was your career goal different then when you started at Linfield?
SONNY -- Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a dentist. That was my goal when I enrolled at Linfield. My career path changed due to a 7:40 a.m. Intro to Biology class during football season. I wisely dropped that class the last day I could without it appearing on my transcript.
After coming back to Linfield, I started taking business classes, including from Dave Hansen, Bruce Baldwin and Levi Carlile. They sparked my interest in business and economics as majors. Also, a ‘shout out’ to Clancy Hinrichs (physics prof), who was definitely one of the better teachers I had. All four of them made subject matter interesting and provided the motivation for me to start to take school seriously.
WILDCATVILLE -- What is your career history after Linfield, starting with your first job until the present?
SONNY -- While at Linfield, I took an internship at the McMinnville Branch of U.S Bank. That led to working in Portland for the bank. That was a wonderful experience. The bank was very good to me, providing great opportunities. After five and a half years I got restless, and started looking at other options. In 1980, I bought a small contracting company that did siding and windows – the weatherization craze had just kicked in to gear – and, surprising to me, endured that for 22 years. Homeowners were great, but contractors and real estate agents/ property managers, not so much. In 1993 I also opened a retail soccer store in Portland, the Far Post Soccer Supply. Both my daughters had become active in soccer, and I also enjoyed it. The store was primarily meant to be somewhat of a hobby, but it continued to grow, as the sport itself became the fastest growing youth sport in the U.S.
I sold the contracting company in December 2002 after a very good friend shared that he had cancer. That made me think life is too short to not enjoy a job. I then just “hung out” at the soccer store, and let my staff pick on me. It's been a good 28 year run with this soccer store, but I am very happy to be selling it. Why sell? It's not fun having a brick and mortar store in downtown Portland. And, it’s not fun to have Nike as one of my store’s main suppliers. Furthermore, the sport itself, as well as many of the people involved have changed. Instead of the pure enjoyment of having kids involved in the sport, people, and companies like Nike, are now primarily driven by the monetary aspect that the game provides, which is something that was never my motive.
WILDCATVILLE -- Grandkids?
SONNY -- I married a Linfield classmate, Madeline Rosenberg, in 1972. We had two children, and then divorced in 2001. My youngest daughter, Ali is married, and lives in Santa Clarita, California. I’m proud of her. She and her husband, Evan Dorhmann, from Portland, have gifted us with three grandchildren: Montgomery, age 6; Memphis, age 3, and Redding, three months. They all have July birth dates. There are not enough words to describe the joy these grandkids bring to us. We are very fortunate, as both my wife and I expected that all our “grandchildren” would have 4 legs (as in dogs).
After a several year courtship, in 2017 I married Felice Moskowitz. She’s a grad of Beaverton’s Sunset High School. We were introduced by Linfield classmate Lynne Wintermute. Felice and I have a very good life. We live in Beaverton, but also spend time in our home in Arizona outside of Tucson.
WILDCATVILLE -- Influential people in your life?
SONNY -- There has been many, including some of whom I didn't realize the impact they would have on me until I got older. I already mentioned Dave Hansen and Bruce Baldwin, who to this day still remain very good friends. Of course, also Coach Rutschman. I’ve told him if he had not provided me the path to return to Linfield, I really don't know if I'd be around today.
I have also been blessed with having numerous good fiends throughout my life; in fact too many to list. Each of them have provided strength, guidance, laughter, and just loads of fun over my lifetime. I can't express the importance that good friends have played in my life.
WILDCATVILLE -- Hobbies? Travel?
SONNY -- I haven't had time for hobbies over the last few years. Golf used to be my passion. I've been fortunate enough to go to Scotland and Ireland three times for golf, and also played many of the better golf courses in this country. However, about seven or eight years ago, golf and I were not getting along. So, I quit golfing with the promise I would take game up again after retirement. I love the game, as well as the comradery with my friends, which is primarily why we bought our Arizona home in one of those 55-plus, ride-around-in your-golf-cart communities.
I have always enjoyed traveling. Felice and I have found time to do quite a bit. Highlights include a safari in South Africa. We’ve taken several cruises, including one to the Greek Islands. Felice heritage on her mother's side is rooted in the island of Rhodes in Greece. We did an amazing one week rafting trip in the Grand Canyon, with Steve Pickering (Linfield grad, Linfield football teammate) and his wife, Ann.
In 2015, Felice and I celebrated our 66th age milestones, by driving part of historic Route 66. That was great fun and we recommend it for all to consider. Opt, as we did, to stay in hotels/motels in which you’d never consider staying and eating food you’d never consider eating.
Covid has put a damper on our travel of late, but we toured Panama in May 2021. On our bucket list is to travel to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, do another European River cruise, and go to Portugal. I want to walk the Camino de Santiago (The Way) in Spain to commemorate working 54 years.
WILDCATVILLE -- Final comments?
SONNY -- Thank you for this opportunity to share part of my story.
