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Sonja Khoury

1938 - 2014

Sonja Khoury obituary, 1938-2014, La Jolla, CA

BORN

1938

DIED

2014

Sonja Khoury Obituary

Khoury, Sonja 1938 ~ 2014 Award Winning and Pioneering Interior Designer Sonja Alexandroff Khoury, of La Jolla, CA, formerly of Southfield and Detroit, MI, died on August 29, 2014, after a long and valiant battle with cancer. She was 76 years old and lived every one of those years as one of the kindest and most caring and loving people that anyone has ever known. Sonja, known as Sonny to many, was born on April 1, 1938, in Detroit, MI, to Mary and Peter Alexandroff and was younger sister to Anne. She attended Pershing High School where she was a model student and graduated with Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa distinction.While in high school she was the state of Michigan champion in dramatic reading, played piano and excelled in other artistic endeavors particularly as a painter and singing as a member of the renowned Kenneth Jewell Chorale. As a child and into her teen years, she greatly enjoyed trips to Chatham, Ontario (Canada), where she had numerous aunts, uncles and cousins who lived on and worked actively on family farms. Sonja attended the University of Michigan and graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Design and Education. She also sang with the University of Michigan Choral Society. It was in Ann Arbor that she met the love of her life, husband Jamil, to whom she was wed for 54 years. They were married in 1960 and began their life together in San Francisco and Los Angeles where Sonja taught junior high students, many of whom were new to the United States and did not speak English. Her patience, love and caring for those students was legendary, and the ingenuity of her teaching methods helped many of them to become proficient in English. Sonja and Jamil shared many great memories with family and friends in California, driving up and down the coast, enjoying the pristine beaches and relative simplicity of life in California in the early 1960s. They moved back to Michigan in 1965, just after Todd's birth, where they had daughter Kim in 1970. They settled in Southfield where Sonja immersed herself in her children's life and built a beautiful home in addition to volunteering with groups such as Junior League and school parent teacher associations. She also sat on the board of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. While living in Southfield, she was delighted to be closer to her parents, sister and nieces in addition to the many relatives she still had nearby in Canada. In 1977, Sonja and her family moved to La Jolla, CA, where she and Jamil started a successful model home interior design, furniture and flooring business known as Designers Showcase. With Designers Showcase, Sonja became known as a pioneer in creating design showrooms servicing trade customers in San Diego, and her legacy in that business is still felt today in San Diego's design community. In La Jolla, she successfully balanced raising her family with excelling in her career, winning numerous industry awards for interior design projects throughout California and Arizona, most notably several San Diego Building Industry Association Sales and Marketing (SAM) awards for excellence in interior design. She took pride in her children's academic and athletic careers, hosting the Yale and Penn collegiate tennis teams for many years and passionately supporting both schools and programs. Following her retirement from business, she tutored elementary school students in La Jolla and continued to immerse herself in the lives of her children; granddaughters, Anna, Abby and Alex; and grandsons, Peter and Charlie. She enjoyed tennis, power walking up to the Mt. Soledad cross in La Jolla and reading and spending time with Jamil on the beach at the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club, where they shared so many wonderful memories together and with their children and grandchildren. Sonja traveled abroad extensively, memorably on a family trip to Europe during the summer of 1985; with Jamil at various times to Hawaii and the Caribbean; and most recently with her husband, daughter and grandchildren to Italy. In addition, Sonja tirelessly traveled across the country for many years to help her children, her daughter-in-law, Laurie, and grandchildren with anything and everything and was always available for her family and friends in person or by phone for as long as anyone would need. Her survivors include husband, Jamil Khoury of La Jolla, CA; sister, Anne Moloney of Beverly Hills, MI; daughter, Kim Khoury of Wellesley, MA; son, Todd Khoury and his wife Laurie of Greenwich, CT; grandchildren, Alex and Charlie Coleman of Wellesley, MA, and Peter, Anna and Abby Khoury of Greenwich, CT; and numerous cousins, nieces nephews, brothers and sisters- in-law, all of whom have been greatly touched by her life and will miss her dearly. In accordance with her wishes, private, family-only services will be held in La Jolla, CA, and in Michigan at times to be determined. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund in her name benefitting children in need is being established. Family and friends will be notified once the fund is operational.

Published by San Diego Union-Tribune on Sep. 5, 2014.
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Memories and Condolences
for Sonja Khoury

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I think of you daily, I miss you! I remember everything: your laugh, your generosity, your love, your phone calls and cards-which I still have. I’ve been told I have a great sense of style,That’s from you. I love you forever and always❤

Cyndie Moloney Fahrner

Family

August 30, 2020

I met Sonny while working at Pacific Scene Homes. She was a beautiful person inside and out. My heart goes out to her husband Jamil and the rest of her family.

Lois Collier

October 20, 2014

Sonny and I met on a school field trip when our sons, both named Todd, were in the 6th grade at Francis Parker. We became friends then and there, and our friendship continued through Pete's and my moves to Washington, D.C., Sacramento, and Los Angeles. Sonny helped me decorate our Capitol Hill townhouse by phone - without ever seeing it in person. When we moved to Sacramento, Sonny came up to help me give the Governor's Residence some style. And when we moved to Century City she decorated our townhouse with many pieces from Designers' Showcase - lamps, vases and furniture I look at every day, remembering what a wonderfully talented person - and friend - Sonny was.

First and foremost Sonny loved her family - Jamil, Kim, and Todd. They were her priority. But Sonny was also such a thoughtful, caring friend, giving of her time, talent and kindness to me and to so many others.

The world has definitely lost a special person. I'm sure the angels in heaven are welcoming her with open arms, and she'll be redecorating the place in no time.

Gayle and Pete Wilson

September 15, 2014

Sonny was a gift in my life! Our connections were many: we were neighbors at Windemere, we were on the Windemere board together, Sonny and I were both interior designers. Everytime I saw Sonny at the designer showrooms on Morena blvd. it was such a plus in my day. My memories of Sonny will always be with me. My condolences to her lovely family.

Adelma Liefgreen Williams

Adelma Liefgreen-Williams

September 14, 2014

Sonny was my mentor and inspiration. Her and Jamil were the first people to give me a job in design. I was from Michigan and had just moved here, they took me in and gave me a chance. Sonny was a wonderful role model, family first, creative, patient, kind and loving. She always had a smile and a hug ready, she will be sorely missed, but touched so many lives in such a wonderful way!! I am sorry for your loss.
Barb Ford

September 6, 2014

Sonny was kindness, warmth and class personified. We shall miss our very special friend and neighbor.

Bevy & Ed Shadek

September 5, 2014

Dearest Khoury Family,
I always admired Sunny....she embodied grace, style and class!!! Professionally, I had great respect for her talent and always knew she was a step above others. I always looked for Sunny and Jamil at the beach club....my husband and I were in awe of their togetherness ....looking up to them and trying to live up to their marriage standard. Thank you Sonny for setting such an exemplary example of how to live life. You will be missed by many!!!!

Claudia Allen

September 5, 2014

I will miss everything! Your smile, your twinkling eyes, your style, your love.
The Red Tide at the beach, an ice cream cone with you, and laughing so hard we cry. Now I cry because you are gone but never forgotten and today I laughed when I remembered our time together!
I love you forever!
Your loving niece
Cyndie

Cyndie Moloney Fahrner

September 5, 2014

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