Sonia was born in Shaulai Lithuania in 1914, where she grew up with her sister and parents until she was 21. In 1935, she met her husband, Norman Kizell , married him and went off with him to Canada, where she spent the rest of her life, having left her family in Europe, never to see it again (except for a short visit of her mother to Canada when Sonia gave birth to her eldest daughter).

Sonia had three daughters, Gita, Dorothy and Rachel, nine grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren, at the time she passed away, in March 2003.

After the passing away of her husband, Norman, in 1973, Sonia dedicated her life to the Jewish community in Ottawa, where she lived, by carrying out charity work and other activities for the welfare of the community. She also dedicated herself to strengthening her connection with Israel through her daughter Dorothy and Dorothy's husband George and their three children, who had moved to live in Israel.

In the last years of Sonia's life, her granddaughter Daphna was traveling around the world, and a new special connection bound the two together. Daphna would come to visit her grandmother, who was already sick, and would play the guitar and sing for her. Sonia loved sitting in her bed and listening to Daphna sing and play, and at times they would play the piano together, which was a joy for both of them.

We chose to dedicate the song Shalom Aleichem to Sonia, since she loved Jewish music, and would have rejoiced in Daphna's creativity and singing.

 

Dorothy (Dvora) and George (Yisrael)Rosenberg