Dewey County Obituary
Fairview Cemetery

Sonja Kay Beers

February 04, 1937 - May 20, 2016

© SHAW REDINGER FUNERAL HOME
VICI, DEWEY CO, OK
(permisson granted)
Submitted by: Ann Weber

Visitation:
Tuesday ~ 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ~ At Thomas
Wednesday ~ 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ~ At Thomas
Thursday ~ 9:00 am to 5:00 pm ~ Shaw Funeral Home ~ Taloga
Friday ~ 9:00 am to 7:00 pm ~ Shaw Funeral Home ~ Shattuck

Celebration of Life services for Sonja Kay Scott Beers, 79-year-old Thomas, Oklahoma and former Shattuck, Oklahoma resident will be held on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at Chaffin Auditorium in Shattuck, Oklahoma with Randy Sherrill officiating. Burial will follow at Putnam Fairview Cemetery 2 east and 1.5 miles north of Putnam, Oklahoma under the direction of Shaw Funeral Home.

Sonja Kay Scott Beers was born on February 4, 1937 in Wichita, Kansas to Welsey (Scotty) and Alveta (Feger) Scott and passed away on Friday, May 20, 2016 in Clinton, Oklahoma. Sonja was named after the Norwegian born Olympic Champion ice skater Sonja Henie.

Sonja lived in Wichita, Kansas, while her dad worked for Boeing Aircraft. Then the family moved back to Carmen, Oklahoma where she lived on a farm east of Carmen as well as in town. Scotty and Alveta built, owned, and operated multiple businesses being master entrepreneurs. Their businesses included Deep Rock Filling Station, Carmen Confectionary and other cafes and stations in which Sonja took an active role. Sonja welcomed her sister Janis.

Sonja accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior on April 21, 1940 and was baptized. She was a dedicated student of the Bible and was filled with Biblical knowledge and shared this wealth of knowledge with her children, family, and friends. This foundation supported Sonja throughout her lifetime.

Throughout her years of school at Carmen, she played guard on the Carmen High School basketball team, she was a cheerleader for the football team and a twirler in the band. She was a football queen candidate and the FFA Queen. She sang in the high school choir and was in quartets and duets as an alto. Sonja worked as a waitress at the Carmen Confectionary and the Carmen Sooner Café and also drove to work at the café in Fairview. She took pride in playing every song listed on the café juke box and always knew all the lyrics to every song. She loved the song Eb Tide as well as Nat King Cole. She also ran the service station built by her parents. Sonja was a telephone operator working for the Carmen Telephone Office which required her to plug the calls into the switchboard and say: number, please. Her phone number was one long and two short. Unknown to most people, Sonja fashioned her swimming suits after Esther Williams and competed in swimsuit contests and was quite successful at winning them.

After graduating from high school in 1955, she attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University on a partial scholarship and worked in the college cafeteria and also worked for a catering service. In addition she worked for Bill Arganbright at Arganbright Real Estate. In Alva she met her future husband and the love of her lifetime JA Beers whom she nicknamed Jim. Jim played college baseball and basketball at OBU before transferring to NWOSU to play baseball. They met at Pamburns Café after being introduced by a mutual friend. Later Jim decided to ask Sonja for a date and as he was approaching her dormitory, he saw Sonja in an upstairs window ironing her clothes for the next day. Jim hollered at Sonja through the dorm window and here came the dorm mother chewing Jim out for asking her for a date through the window. Jim said: yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am while walking into the front of the dormitory as he saw Sonja bounding down the steps to meet him. So, he asked her again if she wanted to go with him to get something to eat and then to the show that same night. After their first date, Jim asked Sonja to go on more dates. Sonja accepted but noticed that sometimes he was running a little late. She noticed that she could look across campus and see from her second floor into Vinson Hall second floor where Jim lived and could see that he was playing cards. Jim was using his winnings from playing cards so they could go on a date. He was usually about 15 minutes late.

Jim played semi-pro baseball for the VFW. Since he played for the VFW, he was also able to work for the VFW as a doorman. After that, they figured out that they had enough money to pool together to live on their own so on November 1, 1957, Jim and Sonja were married in the First Baptist Church in Alva, Oklahoma. They rented the second floor of a three story house for $35/month with the bills paid.

Jim graduated from college in 1960 and accepted employment at Arnett Public Schools as the coach of everything except the girls softball team. He also taught biology, 8th grade science and driver’s education. Sonja graduated in 1961 from college and also accepted employment at Arnett teaching business, home economics and 7th grade language arts. If there was a bus moving for an activity, Sonja and Jim were on it. They sponsored many junior and senior classes. Sonja always kept books for Jim’s basketball and baseball games and enjoyed doing that. Through their years at Arnett, they developed a love for their students that passes all understanding. Their Arnett students were not that much younger than Sonja and Jim and they loved to kid and tease them. Sonja and Jim always loved hearing the hilarious stories of their students.

In 1966 Sonja and Jim moved to Shattuck just before the birth of their daughter, Belinda Elizabeth Beers. Jim taught science and biology and became the elementary principal after Jess Nelson moved to Guymon. Their son Brandin Scott Beers was born in 1970. Sonja was an excellent mother and wife. She read to her children, sang and taught them songs. She always had an arts and craft project for them to create. Sonja read the Bible and taught Brandin and Belinda all of the Bible stories as they were growing up. She instilled a desire for Biblical knowledge in them. Both Jim and Sonja provided a Christian home environment giving a great Biblical foundation in which inspires them to take leadership roles in their respective communities.

As a beautiful and young mother, all high school girls confided in Sonja with their personal problems. Sonja was easy to talk to and could relate to the younger girls. She was a great listener. Sonja provided sewing and home economic activities for the girls incorporating these activities into Mrs. Eunice Gordon’s home economic classes.

Sonja took many leadership roles at the First Christian Church. She taught Sunday School, Bible Club on Wednesday nights, and JAM on Sunday nights. Sonja always went to pick up kids who did not have a ride to church as well as widows who were unable to drive. She also coordinated special music for the church. She helped and supportted anyone who needed it. She always tended to the needs of others while caring for her family. At one time Sonja also worked for her former student Waylen Appel at Appel's House of Flowers.

As Sonja’s sister and brother-in-law, Janis and Sam Wooten had a precious son, Rhett, the family continued to have family meals together and celebrated all holidays. Rhett, Brandin, and Belinda were raised as siblings rather than cousins and were very close. Many trips were made to visit the Wooten family as they moved throughout the country and abroad including two trips to Europe which were highlights for the families and strengthened their bonds with each other. The Scott family was also related to Joe Walsh of the Eagles in which Sonja took great pride.

After both kids were in school, Sonja went back to the teaching field and got a degree in elementary education and taught third grade. Later she moved to first grade and earned her degree as a reading specialist and drove back and forth to Alva for night classes mainly with Ms. Carole Kelln whom she thoroughly enjoyed! Sonja always treated each of her students as her own children and loved them dearly. Sonja diagnosed and treated any student’s reading problems effectively. In recent years as she would hear children reading out loud, she would diagnose and explain to us what the student had been taught or not been taught when learning to read. Sonja piloted an adult education program with Karma Hudson and taught adults to read. They coordinated with Rae Ann Annis of Woodward to pilot this adult education class. Sonja taught night classes on Monday and Thursday nights earning the respect of the adults that she taught. They loved her dearly as well.

The highlights of Sonja’s life while Brandin and Belinda were in school was all of their football, basketball, baseball, and softball games and track meets in which they participated. Sonja and Belinda were active participants at Brandin’s games and they enjoyed them together. She also attended each dance and piano recital, karate tournament, and music concerts that they were involved in. Sonja kept books for Coach Holley at all the basketball games and Jim ran the clock except for the years that he was coaching with Coach Holley or coaching the boys teams. The family always had fun on their annual baseball trip to Vernon, Texas where they enjoyed fellowship with the boys and their parents and the coaches.

While the kids were in school, the Beers household was always an active place where all the school kids would gather to have fun. Sonja was always fixing a meal for them before a game or while they rested waiting to leave on the bus. It was nothing to walk through the living room with Brandin’s friends wall to wall watching TV or on the floor resting.

After Brandin graduated, the family enjoyed watching him play football at Southwestern. Milam stadium became their home for most of the Saturdays during the fall months. One of the highlights was when the Bulldogs were invited in 1991 to travel to Mexico City and play the Mexican professional football team. The entire Beers family made the trip and made sweet memories of it.

Retiring in education in 1992, Jim and Sonja moved to Putnam to be closer to the farm. Sonja was always busy providing meals and taking care of animals with Jim. While living there, they welcomed their wonderful daughter-in-law into their family when Brandin married Ellen (Case) Beers in Hobart, Oklahoma on July 1, 1995. Eight months later, Sonja and Jim were blessed again when they welcome their wonderful son-in-law into the family when Belinda married Drew Breisch. Family meals and holidays were enjoyed with lots of laughter.

Sonja was blessed with her first grandson on September 8, 2000 when Dylan Scott Beers was born into the family. On January 21, 2004 Sonja’s blessings doubled with the birth of her second grandson Braden Thomas Beers. The boys were the highlight of a lifetime to her and also a way of reliving when Brandin was little. She enjoyed each sporting event that she was able to attend and was so proud of their accomplishments. She loved the grandsons so very much!

A few years later, they moved to Vici, Oklahoma where Sonja worked at the post office and also on the 2010 census.

In 2008 Sonja and Jim moved to Thomas, Oklahoma where she set up house before falling and breaking her neck in March of 2013. Just before this happened, Rhett and Kendi Wooten welcomed their precious son into this world, Jackson Lee, Sonja’s great grandnephew. After breaking her neck, Sonja recovered and fought back as best as she could beating many odds that were stacked against her. Sonja was tough and showed everyone exactly how tough she was. In May of 2013 she moved into Grace Living Facility. The family made the most of this game changer by celebrating all holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries at the living center with Sonja. Belinda frequently entertained the residents and sang songs for Sonja with an amp and microphone. Sonja liked to hear Elvis, Patsy Cline and Crystal Gayle. Jim, the incredibly devoted and model husband and dad, would travel down each day to spend 8 to 10 hours with his beautiful bride. Sonja could recall any conversation and was able to recall to you things that you couldn’t remember for the majority of the time. Jim always said that he got the pick of the litter in Sonja and she felt the same about him.

Sonja entered the Clinton hospital with pneumonia on May 17 and continued to fight. Sonja did not lose this battle. She had accepted Jesus Christ and knew him as her Lord and Savior. Her family surrounded her reminiscing with laughter about days past. The family told Sonja that this was the most exciting day of her life because it was her last day on earth and she was going to Heaven. Sonja peacefully slipped into the presence of Jesus at 2:29 pm as her family encouraged her to do so.

Sonja is preceded in death by her parents Wesley and Alveta Scott. She is survived by her husband Jim Beers of Thomas, OK; one son Brandin Beers and wife Ellen of Edmond, OK; one daughter Belinda Breisch and husband Drew of Sharon, OK; two grandsons Dylon and Braden Beers of Edmond, OK; one sister Janis Wooten and husband Sam of Carmen, OK; nephew Rhett Wooten and wife Kendi and many, many friends.