Sonja Marie (Larson) ANDERSON

ANDERSON, LOCKER, HETLAND, TESDELL, LINDSTROM

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/27/2008 at 21:12:36

CHEROKEE, Iowa -- Sonja Marie Anderson, 46, of Cherokee died peacefully with her husband, Todd, and her parents at her side Monday, March 17, 2008, at her residence following a courageous five and one half year battle with cancer. Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee, with the Rev. Jim Steen officiating. Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 9 p.m., at Greenwood Funeral Home in Cherokee.

Sonja Marie Larson was born in Clarion, Iowa, on March 10, 1962, to parents, Ron and Anne Larson. She lived in Dows, Iowa, until age 11, then she moved with her parents to a farm near Stanhope, Iowa. She was a member of the South Hamilton High School class of 1980, in Jewell, Iowa. She later graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., with the class of 1984, majoring in elementary education and receiving a minor in English. In May 1984, she began working as a clerk at the Webster City K-Mart. From there she went on to train at the Waterloo K-Mart for the assistant manager's position. In October 1985, she moved to Cherokee after accepting a position as assistant manager of the Cherokee K-Mart. She was promoted to manager of K-Mart in June 1998 and continued in that position until the present. She greatly enjoyed her work and associations in the business community. On Easter Sunday 1987, Todd and Sonja met each other on a boating party in Storm Lake, Iowa, and became good friends. The couple were married in Dows, Iowa, on Oct. 10, 1992. She was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. She was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and was the chair for the March of Dimes fund raisers through K-Mart.

She enjoyed annual trips to the Iowa State Fair and annual trips in October to the Mall of America. Most of all, she cherished her three vacations to five of the seven Hawaiian Islands in 2003, 2004 and 2005, with Maui being her favorite island. While at home, she enjoyed eating her evening meals on the porch. She also enjoyed watching her favorite television programs including American Idol and the Food Channel. She looked forward to her daily visits with her mom on the telephone, sometimes discussing recipes. She enjoyed reading, flowering, gardening and cooking. She also liked spending her time baby-sitting dogs, Ginger and Windsor.

Mourning her loss are her husband, Todd; her parents, Ron and Anne Larson of Dows, Iowa; her mother and father-in-law, Dennis and Patty Anderson of Larrabee, Iowa; brothers-in-law, Joel Anderson and his special friend, Dew Lindstrom of Boise, Idaho, and Scott Anderson and his wife, Jennifer of Forsyth, Mont.; a nephew, Cooper Anderson of Forsyth, Mont.; aunts, Rosalie and Ron Locker of Slater, Iowa, and Darlene and Duane Hetland of Minnetonka, Minn.; an uncle, Ron and Pam Tesdell of Ankeny, Iowa; and cousins, Scott, Steve, Susan, Robert, Sarah, Elizabeth, Matt and Mike. She was preceded in death by her grandparents; aunts, Linda Tesdell and Linda Larson; and an uncle, Fred Larson.

Memorials may be directed to the family and will be used for new choir robes for Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

Sioux City Journal, Iowa
March 19, 2008