City man reborn as U.S. citizen on Fourth

STEUBENVILLE - You could say that Austrian native Peter Sontag was "reborn" on the Fourth of July.

Sontag, a Florida resident who spent his later teens in Steubenville attending high school, was toasted and honored by about 100 of his local friends Sunday at the Steubenville County Club. The affair, organized by John and Donna Minor, was to celebrate Sontag's first step on the country's shores exactly 50 years ago on July 4, 1960.

"This is the 50th year to the day I first arrived in Steubenville, Ohio," said Sontag. "I was invited here by the Vaughan family."

Sontag's journey from post-war Austria to the land of the free began after Austrian education authorities told his parents he was not suited for higher education, and that "I would never learn to speak English," said Sontag. "They made the decision, I wasn't going into academia. They said I would be better suited working in a hotel."

Sontag completed hotel training and was working in an Austrian hotel when an American asked him if he knew anyone who could take him sight-seeing.

"At the time, I was making $12 a month working at the hotel," he said. "(The American) offered to pay me $20 to show him around. So, I told him, 'I'm a tour guide.' He eventually told me, 'You're the kind of person who would do well in the U.S.'"

That person was John Vaughan, Sontag said. Sontag said sometime later to his surprise an airline ticket to the U.S. arrived in the mail from the Vaughans.

"I stayed here for two years," he said, adding he attended Steubenville High School, played sports and "did all the wonderful things you do when you're ages 17 to 19."

Sontag returned Europe to serve a compulsory stint in the Austrian military before returning to the United States in 1965.

"It was then I realized I was an American who had been born in the wrong country," said Sontag, adding he began laying the groundwork for his eventual U.S. citizenship.

He worked as an iron worker at the former Weirton Steel Co. before attending the-then West Liberty State College, graduating at the top of his class. He then went on to earn a doctorate in laws at Columbia University in New York before beginning a career in finance, traveling the world and working in mergers and acquisitions.

"I was involved in more than 80 mergers and acquisitions when I worked for ITT," he said.

Sontag said he currently has his own business that caters to Porsche automobile enthusiasts.

"We take them to Germany, where they can drive Porsches really fast," he said.

Sontag told the gathering his journey from the poor world of post-war Austria to success in the U.S. was a shining example of the American dream.

"(This is) the celebration of a country that offered kindness, encouragement, support and opportunities to a 17-year-old boy who arrived on this Earth in the midst of a horrific war where suffering, destruction and death was a normal day," said Sontag to guests. "You welcomed a kid in 1960 who had seen things a child should never see or experience, who grew up in poverty, abuse, illness and hunger."

City native Donna Minor said Sontag's amazing story was the reason she and her husband organized the party.

"He's always talked about having a party here in Steubenville (to commemorate the event)," she said. "We've been friends for 50 years, and he met my husband while at Steubenville High School. He just loves this country so much."

(Miller can be contacted at mmiller@heraldstaronline.com.)