Her Life
Tragically, our beloved Sonia “Mama Sonia” Leavengood, 72, of Chatsworth, CA, passed away suddenly from unknown causes in the evening hours of January 2, 2025.
Sonia was born on March 21, 1952, in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Joe and Mary Rivera. Sonia’s mother, Mary, passed away when Sonia was just four years old. Her father, Joe, who was injured in the war and unable to care for her, arranged for her to be adopted and raised by Vincent “Chente” and Matilda “Maty” Jiminez.
The Jiminez family moved around the New York area to ensure Sonia attended the best schools and lived in desirable neighborhoods. Eventually, she transferred to a Catholic middle school. Around that time, Sonia’s adopted mother, Matilda, contracted heart disease, necessitating the family's move from the Northeast to Puerto Rico, where Sonia and Chente cared for her. Sonia completed high school in Puerto Rico, picking up Spanish along the way. She then attended a technical school and earned a certificate in Office Administration.
After a brief marriage Sonia moved back to the Northeast to live with relatives Jack and Rosie Millard. Eventually, she moved into her own apartment in Randallstown, Maryland, and began working for the Social Security Administration, where she dedicated 47 years of her life. With the benefits Social Security offered she was able to travel to Puerto Rico to help care for her adopted mother. Shortly after that, she met Barry, a Californian, and their fate was sealed. About a year later, she moved to California, living in an apartment near the Social Security office. Barry and Sonia were married on February 13, 1982, in a chapel in Woodland Hills, CA, attended by family and friends.
They lived in a condominium in Woodland Hills until 1989 when Barry’s 12-year-old daughter, Carley, came to live with them. To provide a better environment for Carley, they soon moved to a home in Chatsworth, CA, where they remained until Sonia’s passing; Barry still resides there. Sonia loved Carley as if she were her own daughter and felt the same way about her granddaughters, Skylar, age 23, and Sofia, age 14, witnessing them flourish and thrive.
Sonia and Barry lived a storybook life, often being the envy of their friends. They were inseparable, completing each other and doing everything together. Throughout their entire time together, they never had a serious argument. Sonia was the glue that held the family together, always ready with birthday and special occasion cards. Her Christmas pictorials were cherished and eagerly anticipated each year.
Sonia constantly reached out to extended family on both the East and West Coasts, former coworkers, and new friends. She was affectionately known as the “texting queen,” spending hours texting and calling family and friends.
Together, Sonia and Barry traveled the world, enriching their lives and filling dozens of photo albums. In recent years, they became involved with the Ferrari Club. Barry still has the Ferrari they used on their honeymoon. They participated in social events, Concours car shows, and club drives, and several of Sonia's photographs were published in the Ferrari magazine.
Sonia is survived by her husband Barry, stepdaughter Carley, and granddaughters Skylar and Sofia along with the many family members, coworkers and friends whose lives she affected in such a positive way..
In closing this chapter of her life, I would like to express that Sonia was the kindest, nicest, and sweetest person I have ever met. She will be missed more than I can describe.
The memorial service will be at 11:30 AM on Saturday March 15th at St. John Eudes Church located at 9901 Mason Ave, Chatsworth, CA 91311 followed by a graveside service at Oakwood Cemetery, and then a celebration of her amazing life.
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Rest in peace my darling.
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