Sonja Marie Brooks

Obituary

Sonja Marie Brooks was born on April 11, 1938, in New Orleans to Walter Brooks and Marieve Brooks (Duhè). At the age of two, she moved with her family to Portland when her father began working for the Union Pacific Railroad. She was raised in the family home on NE Hancock Street alongside her sisters, Thyra and Darryle, and her brother, Walter.

Sonja married Calvin DePass and welcomed three children: Michelle, David, and Paula. Later, she married Chuck Armsbury and had two additional children, Chon and Erika. She also raised Jill and Joe Armsbury for a significant portion of their lives. As a young, married woman, she ventured out into the world, living in California; Albuquerque, NM, Eugene, Oregon; and Venezuela. In time, she returned to Portland and the home on Hancock Street, this time to raise her own children. Family remained the center of her life, and she nurtured it with fierce dedication.

The Hancock home was filled with love, but it was also a place shaped by challenge. There were long seasons of emotional and financial struggle, and the path forward was not always clear. Sonja did not claim perfection. She later acknowledged that, at times, she was making decisions with limited tools and knowledge. What defined her, however, was her willingness to learn. As she gained new skills and understanding, she took deliberate steps to improve her own life and the lives of her family. Through perseverance, hard work, and commitment to her values, she created stability where there might have been none. Ultimately watching her family thrive in ways that she hadn't imagined. That home, shaped by both struggle and growth, became a testament not only to her endurance but to her capacity for reflection and change. She would often say, “I did what I did with the skills that I had. When I knew better, I did better.” In her later years as a grandmother and great-grandmother, you saw who she was at her core, evidenced by the love, kindness, adoration, advocacy, guidance, and patience she freely shared.

Sonja’s life was marked by resilience, conviction, curiosity, and devotion to those she loved. A retired teacher, she dedicated her professional life to education, holding a deep belief in the power of learning. Education was a family affair. At one point, she attended Portland Community College alongside both her mother and her daughter, Paula, three generations learning at the same time. Years later, Sonja went on to earn her master’s degree in education, proudly graduating with Paula from the same program. Earning her degree later in life affirmed that she was never too old to learn, Her intellectual curiosity never waned throughout her 87 years , learning to use chopsticks at 85 and practicing Spanish into her final days. 

Over the past twelve years, Sonja lived comfortably and independently with Erika and Eli. She loved her apartment, it was her own space, arranged just the way she liked it and filled with the things that mattered most to her. She kept a steady routine, tending her garden boxes each day, cooking for herself or for the family, and watching Korean dramas, a joy she discovered in recent years for their emotional depth and honest engagement with difficult themes. Sonja loved going out with friends to listen to music, spending many nights dancing at the Blue Diamond, though in recent years she wasn’t able to go out as she once had.

She was known as a hard worker, an exceptional cook, and a steady caretaker of her home and garden. She enjoyed sewing, knitting, crosswords, and caring for her plants. She valued her friendships and built lasting relationships grounded in honesty. A woman who spoke her mind and stood firmly in her convictions, Sonja lived according to her values. Guided by her belief in justice and community, she once served breakfast with the Black Panther Party, reflecting her commitment to social justice and equality.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Walter Brooks; her son, David DePass; and her stepdaughter, Jill Armsbury.

She is survived by her sisters, Thyra and Darryle; her children, Michelle DePass, Paula DePass, Chon Armsbury (Melanie), and Erika Armsbury (Eli); her stepson, Joe Armsbury; her former son in-law Dallas, her 14 grandchildren: Jenea, Shardé, Jax, Joselyn, Mariana, DeMarcus, Alaina, Isaac, Harrison, Nikaela, Martin, Andreas, Amaya, and Zara; her step-granddaughter Lauren and her 10 great-grandchildren: Adrian, Jaylen, Tyson, Cash, Heath, Levi (Vito), Aurora, Lorelei, Akai, and Winston, as well as many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. Her legacy continues in each of them.

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Celebration of Life

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