March 22 1937 – April 12 2022
Sonja Gay Atkinson (nee Lovald) was the only child of Richard Haldor and Gay Cook Lovald. Richard was an agronomist with the United Nations. As a soil specialist, he rolled up his sleeves and worked side by side with farmers all over the globe to improve crop yields. His family accompanied him as often as possible. Sonja was impressed by his example of hard work and respect for the dignity of others, attributes which became hallmarks of her own life. Some of the many place Sonja lived are the Navajo Reservation; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Peking (Beijing) China; Waianae, Hawaii; and Minot, North Dakota. She was fluent in Spanish, a language she kept all her life. Her love for learning led to a Bachelors in South American Studies, a Masters in Education and an EdD in Linguistics.
Though Sonja loved her travels and experiences all over the world, she had a particular fondness for the Southwestern United States. She settled in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here she met and married her husband, Gaynor. They lived in Albuquerque NM and Santa Fe, NM and Colorado Springs, CO. Eventually the two of them designed and built a lovely passive solar home at the foot of Pikes Peak in Manitou Springs, Colorado. At 8,700 feet in elevation, she had a grand view which she enjoyed every day, delighting in the deer, birds, and other wildlife. She has been known to chase a fully grown brown bear out of her kitchen with a mop and the injunction to “Shoo Shoo.”
Sonja had a passion for teaching and chose it as her career. She was a public school teacher for many years, working in Kindergarten and First Grade bilingual classrooms. She had equal facility with adult learners, teaching college Spanish and linguistics classes. Hundreds of students have been blessed by her patience, encouragement, and love. She retired from full-time teaching but found herself missing the learning and service environment, so she found a position with Community Partnership for Childhood Development, where she worked as a translator and family advocate until she was 78, in her words “A suitable age for retiring.”
Five years after being introduced to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints by her patient husband, Sonja gained a testimony and was baptized. She cherished her membership in and service to the church; desiring to love as her Savior loved, and to treat everyone she met with dignity, respect, and genuine care. Her favorite calling was to teach, which she did in Primary, Relief Society, and Sunday School. She served in organization presidencies and in the Denver Colorado temple. She enjoyed ministering individually as well, and could be counted on for meals and rides, but mostly for her listening ear and caring heart.
Enthusiasm and zest infused her many talents. She was a life-long learner and loved to read, especially her scriptures. She was an accomplished guitarist and folk singer which led her to work for a number of years with the State Department as a cultural exchange artist with many Latin American countries.
Sonja’s greatest joy was her family. She is survived by her beloved husband Gaynor, her cherished children, Sarah Colby(Layden), Daniel(Linda), and Melody Molen (Aaron). She cared deeply for her stepchildren, Melanie Davis(Glenn), Gayvin(Susan), Nathan(Luanne), and Ian(Julie), and took great delight in her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. All of us are grateful for your life, your integrity, your example, and your love. You exemplified Mosiah 18:9 and indeed were and are “willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even unto death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—" We will miss your kind heart, gentle spirit, and infectious smile.
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