Joseph Sunnen
American businessman
Joseph Sunnen (June 16, 1897–April 1979) was an American machinery manufacturer, and founder of the Sunnen Foundation.
Biography
Sunnen was born in the coal mining town of Thayer, Illinois. He left school in the 7th grade to help on the family farm. At age 17, he purchased a Missouri lead mine with family savings, however, this failed and his brother Gus offered him employment in his automobile garage in Mexico, Missouri.[1]
In 1923, at age 21, Sunnen applied for his first of nearly 100 patents, a valve lifter tool, marking the beginnings of Sunnen Company. However that same year he was nearly killed in a work explosion which burnt most of his body, and spent a year recovering. He returned to his brother's garage for employment and while in Mexico, Missouri, met and married Miss Cornelia Miller.[2] They moved to St. Louis to pursue Sunnen's manufacturing ambitions in 1924. Joe Sunnen established his Maplewood-based firm in 1924. It has been involved in a number of charitable projects, including the transformation of the Ozarks' YMCA in 1946, and has awarded grants to various groups throughout the United States such as its approximately $75,000-$100,000 yearly grant to Catholics for a Free Choice to fund their Abortion in Good Faith series, which totaled $1,091,700 to 1995.[3] Grants are usually awarded to organizations in the St. Louis region, with about $250,000 a year going to groups in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights area.
The public source identifies “Joseph Sunnen” as american businessman. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Joseph, Sunnen and American.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Joseph Sunnen”, the useful work is to connect “american businessman” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 28, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q6287259. VIAF identifies the subject as 56232447. The Library of Congress control number is no98088797. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1897, 1979, 1923 and 1924.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Joseph Sunnen”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Joseph Sunnen primary sources, Joseph Sunnen archive and Joseph research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joseph Sunnen”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Joseph Sunnen” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.