Sonia Lavonne Hunter

Sonia Hunter exited from the stage of her life on November 3rd, 2024.   Maybe she had had a premonition about who would be winning the presidential election on November 5th and decided that she had already had enough suffering.  She always loved the theater, and her last days would make any playwright proud.  In fact, her whole life had had a lot of drama, for better or for worse.   Sonia’s sense of humor helped her to cope with some very difficult circumstances, and she passed along that ability to her daughter, who remains very grateful for it.   

At a young age, Sonia showed a real talent for various ways to put together clothes, jewelry, and makeup --- first on her dolls, then on herself, and then on anyone who would let her.  She grew up to be tall, beautiful, and glamorous, and people often said that she looked like a movie star.   She really did.  And she would have loved that kind of life:  dressing in fabulous clothes, inhabiting various characters, and being in the limelight. She loved going to parties and singing and dancing and smoking and drinking.  Although she eventually had to give up her favorites (the smoking and the drinking), she continued to sing, and her voice remained strong and beautiful until the end.  She even went to a recording studio and sang her favorite songs.

Sonia was supersmart, with a very sharp mind.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in education and enjoyed teaching for a little while but then got interested in other things.  In addition to being a teacher, she was a restaurant worker, a bank teller, a legal secretary, a property manager for a large firm, a real estate agent, and the owner and operator of a florist shop.  She was good at all of them. 

While she shone in other areas and had many talents, her home life was very different.   She had two husbands, although not at the same time.  She had one child, a daughter named Greta. 

Sonia didn’t want a funeral or memorial service, as she thought that those would be too sad.   Instead, she would prefer that people think of her when they’re laughing at something funny, singing to a favorite song, or spraying on some perfume or cologne.  She’ll be right there with you, joining in.