Shonk was born on October 28, 1881, in
Plymouth,
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, the son of Congressman
George W. Shonk (1850–1900) and Ida Elizabeth (Klotz) Shonk (1856–1911). He graduated from
Wesleyan University in 1903; and from
Harvard Law School in 1906. On June 20, 1917, he enlisted in the
U.S. Army, and from January 13, 1918, to March 13, 1919, fought overseas in
World War I. He finished the war as a
major and was awarded the
Croix de Guerre. Afterwards he engaged in the oil business. Shonk was elected to the
New York State Assembly (Westchester Co., 2nd D.) in
1923,
1924,
1925,
1926,
1927,
1928,
1929 and
1930; and was Chairman of the Committee on Aviation from 1928 to 1930. He died on September 26, 1930, in White Plains Hospital in
White Plains, New York, after an operation for
appendicitis; and was buried at the St. James the Less Cemetery in
Scarsdale. In 1907, Shonk married Gertrude Knight (1885–1938), daughter of State Comptroller
Erastus C. Knight (1857–1923). They had four children, including: Herbert Bronson Shonk (1916–1943), who served as a bomber pilot in
World War II and died when his airplane fell into the
Pacific Ocean, and Peter Marne Shonk (1918–2013), who served as a fighter pilot in
World War II and was stationed on the Navy aircraft carrier USS
Enterprise in the South Pacific theater. ==Sources==