Sonja L. Alcon has been known for spending a lot of time with various organizations related to healthcare.
ELIZABETHTOWN, PA, April 19, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Sonja L. Alcon with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Ms. Alcon celebrates many years' experience in her professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes she has accrued in her field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Mrs. Alcon is a graduate of Bel Air High School, Bel Air, Maryland, Western Maryland College, Westminster, MD, (now McDaniel College) where, in 1959, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology with minors in Art and Psychology, and the University of Maryland School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD, where she earned a Masters of Social Work, in 1973. She was a licensed social worker for many years, and she still holds certification from the Academy of Certified Social Workers.
A retired social worker, Ms. Alcon concluded her career in 1996 after 30¼ years as the director of the social work department at Hanover General Hospital in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Prior to her tenure at the hospital she spent two years as a caseworker at Springfield State Hospital in Sykesville, Maryland, between 1959 and 1961.
Ms. Alcon has been known for spending a lot of time with various organizations related to healthcare. She was the chairman of the professional advisory committee of the Visiting Nurses Association of Hanover and Spring Grove and a consultant for the Hanover Visiting Nurse Association, the Carlisle Regional Medical Center in Pennsylvania, the Adams Hanover Mental Health Center, and the Golden Age Nursing Home (now Hanover Hall) in Hanover. She was also a member of the social work advisory council for McDaniel College in Maryland, where she notably served as a field instructor for nearly 30 years, between 1967 and 1996. Ms. Alcon taught as a clinical associate professor in the school of social work and social planning at the University of Maryland from 1987 to 1992 as well.
A longtime member of the National Association of Social Workers and the Academy of Certified Social Workers, Ms. Alcon is also a life member of the Hanover Hospital Auxiliary, Dr. J. M. Hyson Memorial Court No. 106, Order of the Amaranth, York Chapter No. 169, Order of the Eastern Star, and Sychar Shrine No. 36, Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem. She is a member and former Supreme Worthy President of the national level of the Supreme Assembly, Social Order of the Beauceant. She is a member and Past Presiding officer of two Chapters of the Order of the Eastern Star, two Courts of the Order of the Amaranth, one Shrine of the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, two Assemblies of the Social Order of the Beauceant, and belongs to but is not active now, in one Temple of the Daughters of the Nile.
Extremely active in her community for more than 40 years, Ms. Alcon is currently an elected line officer with the Elizabethtown chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star and an elected representative for the Eisenhower Apartments residents to the Retirement Living Residents Association. She has served in various capacities with the All Saints Episcopal Church, and transferred to St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Mount Joy, after moving to the Masonic Villages in Elizabethtown. In the past, she has served on various boards of directors for such organizations as the Episcopal Home in Shippensburg, the Eastern Star Home in Warminster, PA, the Hanover chapter of the American Red Cross and helped develop the Hospice of Hanover and Spring Grove VNA, and one in York. She has also been active with the YWCA, was a co-facilitator of the "I Can Cope" classes through the American Cancer Society and was a member of the Parents Anonymous advisory council. Furthermore, Ms. Alcon served as vice president and president of the Hanover Human Services Organization.
In 1971, Mrs. Alcon won a Hanover Evening Sun (newspaper) cookbook contest for a vegetable casserole recipe. She was the recipient of a York Daily Record Exceptional Citizen Award in 1979. Ms. Alcon later received a Recognition Certificate from the McAllister chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution in 1980 and a Companion of the Temple Award from the Grand Encampment Knights of Templar in 1999. She was also a finalist for the Salute to Women Award by the YWCA in 1986 and 1987. In light of all her accomplishments, Ms. Alcon has been showcased in more than 35 editions of Who's Who, including Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare and Who's Who of American Women.
Going into the healthcare field was something that Ms. Alcon has described as a calling. Following in a similar path as several family members, her paternal grandfather and great grandfather and two great uncles were physicians, and her grandmother was a nurse. In fact, it was her grandfather who delivered her when she was born. He and his father also owned a hospital in Orange City, Iowa. Her maternal grandfather was an ordained Methodist minister and a missionary in Kentucky, her maternal step-grandfather was also an ordained Methodist minister, and her maternal grandmother was one of the first licensed women ministers in the state of Illinois.
Following two marriages that ended in divorce, and being a single mother to her three children for several years, Sonja has now been happily married to David E. Alcon for many years, Ms. Alcon is the proud mother of three middle aged children and grandmother to six grandchildren. Since retiring, she has enjoyed doing various forms of volunteer work, reading and participating at Masonic affiliated orders. She recently attended a convention for the state level of the Order of the Amaranth, where she was installed as Grand Representative to North Carolina. She has been privileged to be a Grand Representative to at least 10 Jusisdictions over the years, and many Committees for the Grand Court of Pennsylvania, Order of the Amaranth, and many committees for the Grand Chapter of Pennsylvania, Order of the Eastern Star, and for the Supreme Shrine of the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem, and the Supreme Assembly of the Social Order of the Beauceant. Ms. Alcon is also a great lover of international travel. Besides travel in all 50 states, she has traveled in 33 countries around the world.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Ms. Alcon has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
Photo Credit: Cathleen Daum
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