Sonja Owens
August 19, 1940 - April 07, 2011
Sac City, IA
Graveside Service: 1:00 p.m., Monday, April 11, 2011 at Oakland Cemetery, Sac City, Iowa.
Sonja Owens, age 70, of Sac City, Iowa, passed away on Thursday, April 7, 2011, at Loring Hospital in Sac City.
Sonja Margo LeRaas was born on August 19, 1940, at home in Sac County, the daughter of Harold Frenchy LeRaas and Virginia (McAfee) LeRaas. She graduated from Sac City High School in 1958 and was Salutatorian of her class. On May 21, 1961, Sonja was united in marriage to Roger Albert Owens in Tombstone, Arizona. They made their home in Sac City.
She was a secretary for Harold Brown and bookkeeper at Frenchy’s Inc., which she co/owned later. She enjoyed racing horses, playing piano, reading romance novels and was an avid Elvis and Iowa Hawkeyes fan. Sonja had a life long love for horses. Training harness race horses/trotters became her expertise. She was well known in the industry and still holds the track record at Waterloo, Iowa and received many Trophies at the Missouri State Fair. She was instrumental in setting up the horse races in Sac City for the 4th of July Celebrations. Her training also continued with dogs, training a police dog for the Sac County Sheriff’s office named Doc Bookim.
Survivors include her husband, Roger of Sac City; son Robert Charles Strief and wife Melinda of Sac City; sister: Ramona Grimm and husband Jack of Morton, IL; several nieces and nephews which include: Michelle and husband Tim Gossman of Tremont, IL, and Mark Grimm and wife Susan of Groveland, IL, and great nephews: Nicholas Gossman, and Jacob and James Grimm; grandchildren: Joshua Strief of Des Moines and Kari Strief of Indianola, IA; sister-in-law Darlene Owens of Sac City; extended family members and friends.
Sonja was preceded in death by her parents, Harold Frenchy and Virginia LeRaas; mother-in-law Geneva Owens; and brother-in-law Bud Owens.
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