Shonak, a United States Navy Veteran who received several badges and medals including a National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal/Service Ribbon, and a Vietnam Service Medal and Ribbon with Bronze Star, started his career with the City of Springfield with the School Department as an Assistant Audio Visual Technician on October 26, 1971. He transferred to the Health Department in 1976 and later joined the Personnel Department as a Safety and Training Coordinator in 1980. In 1983, he served as a Supervising Claims Agent and in 1989 became a Safety Inspector, the position he currently holds. Shonak holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Health from UMass Amherst.
Mayor Sarno states, “Congratulations to Springfield’s own Robert ‘Bob’ Shonak, 50 years and 10 Mayoral Administrations and he is still going strong – hey in this day and age people are lucky to last 50 months, let alone 50 years in one place! Thank you Bob for your dedication and service to our City of Springfield and thank you to the Shonak family for sharing Bob with us. Bob has truly seen it all. He was instrumental working with our public safety officials during numerous natural and man-made disasters including the 2011 EF-3 tornado, the 2011 freak October nor’easter snow storm, the natural gas explosion and now the COVID-19 pandemic. God Bless you Bob and thank you for your dedicated and selfless service to our Country and the City of Springfield.”
