SONYA ROSE DIAMOND "SONNY" GREENFIELD

SONYA ROSE "SONNY" DIAMOND GREENFIELD - DALLAS, Texas - Sonya Rose "Sonny" Diamond Greenfield died March 28, 2012, at her home, surrounded by her loving family and caregiver. Born Oct. 28, 1921, in Chicago, Ill., she was the first child of Bernard and Lucille (Joseph) Pevsner. She was predeceased by two of her younger siblings, her beloved brother, Barry Pevsner of Dallas, and Selma Krell of Hattiesburg, Miss. She was also predeceased by two loving husbands, Leo Diamond, who she married April 6, 1941, and who died Jan. 3, 1990, and Nelson Greenfield, who she married Dec. 14, 1991, and who died 10 years later. She is survived by her younger sister, Maxine Dashefsky of Dallas and her immediate family listed below. She attended Bellevue Junior High School in Memphis, Tenn., but graduated from Manley High School in Chicago. She had wanted a career in show business, but that was not to be. Instead, she used her talent and personality to develop a career in business and to serve her community in many capacities. Her sales and marketing work ranged from the jewelry business, to real estate, to banking. She was the first female Account Executive for a major bank in Memphis, the National Bank of Commerce. But, in addition to the business world, she served her Memphis community as President of two B'nai B'rith Women Chapters, Hadassah, ORT, Baron Hirsch Synagogue Sisterhood and Beth El Synagogue Sisterhood, and after retiring to Dallas, President of ORT. She was a strong-willed person throughout her life and never hesitant to express her opinions. While those attributes could have earned her enemies, they instead earned her respect and loyalty from family, friends and colleagues. She and Leo spent 40 years of their married lives in Memphis, then moved to Dallas to be near her extensive family of siblings, a daughter, granddaughter, nephews, nieces, cousins, and their children. Later, with Nelson, she became a summer resident of Montpelier in the mid-1990s. She is survived by three children, 12 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren, M. Jerome Diamond and his wife, Candy, of Montpelier, and their eight children, Joshua Diamond and his wife, Cathy, of Williston, and their two children, Naomi and Ari; Seth Diamond and his wife, Tracy, of Birmingham, Ala., and their children, Ilysee, Hannah, and Zachary; Deborah Robinson of Radford, Va., and her son, Matthew Cosinuke of Cincinnati, Ohio; Richard Robinson III and his wife, Melissa, of Lebanon, N.H., and their daughter, Cassidy; Glenn Robinson of Newport; Steven Robinson and his wife, Paulette, of Montpelier, and their children, Tucker and Halle; Scott Robinson and his wife, Jennifer, of Dayton, Ohio, and their daughters, Tiller and Clancy; and Marcia Robinson of Pittsford. Susan Diamond August of Dallas, Texas, her daughter, Lauren Stanley of Dallas, Texas, and her three children, Ava, Lola, Cale. Lois Diamond Keiser of Aptos, Calif., her daughters, Kate of Santa Cruz, Calif., Sarah Keiser Allen and her husband, Jarod, of El Cerrito, Calif., and her son, John David Keiser of Capitola, Calif. A special note of thanks from the family goes to her caregiver and friend for the last eight years, Dorcas Moseti, and her daughters, Caroline and Christine. Without their friendship and efforts, life would have been so much shorter and so much less meaningful for Sonny. A funeral service will be held on Sunday, April 1, 2012, at Sparkman/Hillcrest Northwest Highway Chapel, Dallas, Texas, at 1 p.m., with burial following at Hillcrest Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family would be honored if contributions were made in Sonny's memory to The Alzheimer's Foundation of America, 5430 Lyndon B. Johnson Fwy., Dallas, TX 75240.