Sonja Rae Hall

Sonja Rae Hall, 85, died peacefully in the early hours of Tuesday, September 24, 2024, in her lovely room at Cherry Hills Memory Care in Centennial, Colorado. She was surrounded by family and friends in her final hours, and received phone calls of loving good-byes and blessings from so many others who were unable to visit. 

Sonja was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin on October 28, 1938, the youngest daughter of Gilbert and Hazel (Larson) Hjalland. Her family moved to southern California when she was three, and she spent most of her childhood in Pasadena with her parents and older sister. As a young girl, she developed a love of music and a talent for singing and dancing – she even recorded her first (and only!) single at five, “The Dickie Bird Song.” She sang throughout her life in glee clubs, school and church choirs, often as a soloist, and continually filled her home with music, passing along this love to her daughters and grandkids. 

But it was her athletic skill that caught the eye of Don Hall in eighth grade, when she hit a homerun in a softball game at Marshall Jr. High… and a life-long romance was born! After a fairytale courtship through their years at Pasadena High School (Football Star/Homecoming Queen, Student Body President/Class Secretary), Don and Sonja married on August 12, 1957, following their freshman year at Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University). Sonja and Don welcomed their first daughter at the beginning of their senior year, yet she still earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and graduated on time with Don in 1960. 

Ever the consummate “Pom-Pom Girl” of her high school days, Sonja was her family’s chief cheerleader, encouraging Don in pursuing new career challenges and enthusiastically supporting their multiple cross-country moves. She became a skilled homemaker with an eye for decorating (and redecorating!), and she was a devoted and loving mother to their three daughters. She was a natural hostess and welcoming to all, evidenced by the incredible number of friends with whom they maintained close ties over many years and across many miles. 

Sonja and Don spent most of their 62 years of marriage living in California, Colorado and Arizona, where Sonja never tired of the “beautiful blue sky” and the warmth of the sun. They also enjoyed traveling all over the world together, with the Hawaiian beaches and Norwegian fjords being favorite destinations. Sonja was especially proud of her Scandinavian heritage and treasured the trips to her father's childhood home of Norway. She developed close relationships with aunts, uncles and cousins there, and served as a connecting link between the generations of her Norwegian and American families. 

Combining their loves of travel and sports was also a means of connecting to family and friends over the years. Sonja and Don loved taking ski trips to the Rockies with groups of friends and later enjoyed following grandkids down the slopes too. They spent countless hours playing and conversing on the links and tennis courts; and although she was a great athlete, Sonja was always more focused on fostering relationships than winning. After modeling this love of sport for their daughters and grandkids, they wonderfully showed up as #1 fans, cheering at umpteen tennis and soccer matches, swim meets and softball games. “Mamma and Pappa” also traveled to innumerable piano recitals, musical performances and birthday parties, making each grandchild feel special and incredibly loved, and leaving a beautiful legacy of intentionally prioritizing relationships. 

Sonja’s love for others was a natural expression of her faith in Christ. Through her lifelong commitment to studying Scripture, singing hymns and serving her church families, she experienced the love of Jesus and was able to share His love generously with others. Sonja had a way of making everyone she met feel special and loved, and she was adored, not only by her friends, but also by her children’s and grandchildren’s friends. She always saw the best in people, and they felt it, even in her last years as she shared joyful smiles with greeters at church or the residents and caregivers where she lived. 

Sonja is survived by her three daughters, Kim (and son-in-law Bob) Feehs, Pam Celley and Karen (and son-in-law Joe) Hanlin. She was a beloved grandmother to nine: Becca (Ben) Ryan, Kenneth (Kyleigh) Feehs, Madeline (Kyle) Phipps, Kaycie (Sam) Andrews, Laura (John) Zacur, Karsten Hanlin, Caroline (Blake) Tonn, Jacob Hanlin and Larson Hanlin; and a great-grandmother to twelve. She is preceded in death by her husband Don, her parents, her sister Karen (Hjalland) Kirk, an infant daughter Kathryn Denise and her son-in-law Scott Celley. 

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. at Horan & McConaty Funeral Home, 5303 E County Line Rd, Centennial, CO 80122. A lunch reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Young Life.