SAN DIEGO – Sonia (Shaffer) Alpert, 88, died peacefully June 1, 2007, nine days short of her 63rd wedding anniversary. She was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. Her parents were both immigrants from what is now Belarus, who came to the U.S. in the early 20th century. Her father was a house painter in Brooklyn, N.Y., and her mother was a homemaker. Sonnie and her future husband, Sidney, became pen pals during World War II, having been introduced by a mutual friend. Soon Sonnie was writing to Sid on a regular basis and a long distance romance began to unfold. In April 1944, against the wishes of her very protective parents, she traveled by train to the Army Air Base in Sioux City, Iowa, and was married two weeks later. Within a year of her marriage, she gave birth to Harvey and soon thereafter moved to Sid’s hometown, Bangor. In Bangor, she has actively involved with the family’s drugstores, Priest Drug on Exchange Street, and later Broadway Sunset; and showed her insatiable appetite for work and building a business. In 1951, she gave birth to a second son, Irvine, and in 1953 gave birth to twins, Judith and Jordan. The family were members of Congregation Beth Abraham. In 1969, with dreams of warm weather and a change in careers, they sold Broadway Sunset and moved to San Diego where Sid became a schoolteacher and Sonnie started a new career in market research. She worked full time until she was 78. Her brother, Jacob passed away in 2003. She leaves behind her husband and best friend of 63 years, Sidney of San Diego. She is mourned by her children, Harvey and Laura of Beverly Hills, Calif., and grandchildren, Blake and Tati-anna; Irvine and Bonni of Mercer Island, Wash., and grandchildren, Sally and Samuel; Ju-dith and Benjamin of Escon-dido, Calif., and grandchildren, Nadav and Netta; and Jordan of Escondido, Calif. She also left her much-loved poodle, Fred. Services were held June 3, under the direction of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, at Chabad of Poway Synagogue, where her son, Jordan serves as Gabbai. She was buried in Vista del Sol at El Camino Cemetery, San Diego. Donations in her memory may be sent to the Sonia Alpert Memorial Fund, care of Chabad of Poway, 16934 Chabad Way, Poway, CA 92064.
SONIA ALPERT
