- Date Of Death: June 22, 2022
- State: Georgia
Sonja Ann Coker Stikeleather, 82, of Dillard, GA, died peacefully at The Oaks Scenic View nursing home in Baldwin, GA on June 22, 2022, after a three year struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.
She was born December 28, 1939 to parents Edward and Melba Coker in the rural, unincorporated prairie town of Myakka City, FL. Her eyes always twinkled to share that she was delivered by her paternal grandmother, Alma Coker, the local midwife and “the closest thing to a doctor in that area at the time.”
Sonja was proud to hale from “Old Florida” pioneer stock – the original “Crackers” – so named for the cracking sound of whips as the cowboys rounded up the cattle. She glowed when she spoke about her piney-woods upbringing surrounded by diverse wildlife and her bonnet-wearing, butter-churning, self-sufficient generations of grandmothers. And she loved all things “cowboy” – especially her horseman daddy and “The Duke” John Wayne.
A witty, creative and resourceful woman, she studied the performing arts at the University of Florida and received accolades for her stage performances there in the late 1950’s.
She married in 1961 and began her family in Arcadia, FL, where she and her husband, Lovick, bought 20 acres, built a home from scratch, and immersed themselves in the “back to the land” movement of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, raising livestock and growing their own food while also honing their skills as fine craftspeople.
They moved their family to Valdosta, GA in 1974 where she worked as senior secretary and office manager for McLane, Dover and Sherwood Law Firm for several years. After that, Sonja and Lovick established a furniture restoration and antiques business called “The Attic” which they owned and operated until moving to their beloved Rabun County, GA, in 1994, where they opened an antiques, furniture restoration, fine woodworking and folk arts business of the same name in Dillard, GA.
She did a two-year stint as a dorm parent in the boys dormitory at Rabun Gap Nacoochee School and for many years spoke fondly and proudly of the youngsters she met there.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Lovick Stikeleather and her son Shane Stikeleather.
Surviving her in death are her daughters Carrie Tatro (George) of Atlanta, GA and Laurel Ramey (Michael) of Franklin, NC. Five grandchildren: Rachel, Julia, Justin (Amy), Jared (Alisha) and Cheyenne, former daughter-in-law Jacquie Newton, and 10 great-grandchildren: Aubrey, Ely, Amelia and Tyler, Maia, Landon, Augustus and Katherine and Tristian and Alise. And by her sister Fay Coker of Sarasota, FL, brother Lucky (Mary) Coker of Sarasota, FL and Phillip Coker of Wiggins, MS. Nieces and nephews Ranie, Cody, Jim and Anna Kate and numerous friends and other relatives will sorely miss her.
