Sonya Lie
Obituary
Sonya Joyce Lie (nee Friesen) passed away on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at Bethesda Regional Health Centre, Steinbach, MB.
She will be lovingly remembered and forever missed by husband, Allan, and sons, Nathaniel and Jonathan.
Sonya was born on May 2nd, 1968. Her mother, Dorothy, taught at a number of different schools in many locations but Sonya considered Altona, Manitoba to be her hometown. She graduated high school there, attended church, and worked at CFAM Radio. Later, she attended a year at CMBC in Winnipeg to further her music education.
While working at the radio station, she met her future husband, Allan. A long-distance work relationship and an accidental first date led to them marrying on May 22nd, 1989.
After marrying, they moved to Steinbach, then Winnipeg for a few years, where they had two sons, Nathaniel and Jonathan. The family returned to Steinbach in 2000.
Sonya chose to be a stay-at-home mom and her sons treasure many memories of her taking the time to play with them and teach the lessons that led them to become the fine young men they are. She was also a dedicated wife, supporting Allan’s career while being his emotional compass and greatest friend.
Speaking of friends, Sonya had a gift for making them. She quickly connected with people, had genuine concern for them, and enjoyed re-connecting with them years, months, days, or even hours after seeing them. When Sonya engaged with a friend while out and about with the family, Allan and the boys knew it was time to find something else to do for 20 minutes or so while she caught up and shared… and this often happened more than once during the same outing.
Once her boys were in school Sonya became very active in the community. She volunteered as a cashier at a local thrift store, as a Sunday School teacher, organized a community garage sale for many years, and helped others whenever she saw a need. She was generous with her time and compassion, taking care of her mother, two aunts, and an uncle over the years. Even during her many stays at the hospital, when she had her own health and pain challenges, she found time to share with, and pray for, a variety of roommates.
She was also generous with her financial giving, yet one of the thriftiest people you could ever meet. Every weekday started with dropping the kids off at school, then stopping at local grocery stores to scoop up the morning deals. This was followed by thrift store visits and, on summer Thursdays, getting to every garage sale in Steinbach. Her husband often commented that Sonya doubled their income by saving a dollar for every dollar he earned. Sonya was very often the generosity instigator in the family, supporting her church, and trying to help as many charities as possible on a tight budget. This included the sponsorship of children through Compassion Canada, an organization she cared about deeply, and one her family will continue to support in her honour.
As a couple, and later with their boys, Sonya and Allan enjoyed vacations at the cottage, and road trips with their specific type of camping – sleeping in a tent but always dining in restaurants. Doing dishes among the squirrels and mosquitoes was not Sonya’s idea of a vacation. The family enjoyed many short and long-term trips, and every town along the route warranted a stop if they had a thrift store.
Sonya was also an accomplished musician and, at different times in her life, played piano, violin, and oboe. It wasn’t uncommon for people to compliment her singing and Allan often stood silently next to her in church to enjoy her harmonizing during hymns. She also enjoyed painting, cross-stitch, her Cricut, and a variety of other hands-on crafts.
No description of Sonya would be complete without mentioning her love for the color red. Red items of clothing, red lipstick, red jewelry, red decorations, walls painted red, red kitchenware, and more. She had only one requirement when buying her first car – it had to be red. For Sonya, painting the town red wasn’t a saying… it was a dream.
At the core of Sonya’s life was her faith in God. Life’s biggest decisions started with prayers for wisdom, every blessing was received with a prayer of thanks, and every challenge was met with prayers for strength. She prayed for immediate family, her extended family, friends, neighbours, and strangers. She was extremely grateful for the dozens of people who prayed for her during the last two years. Those prayers strengthened the confidence she already had in God and helped her find peace and even moments of joy until the end.
Allan, Nathaniel, and Jonathan thank the doctors who gave them an extra two years with their wife and mother, the many, many nurses and aides who brought her comfort, and all those who prayed for the family.
Sonya will be remembered fondly and missed greatly by a number of friends and family, many who find comfort in knowing that God will bring them together again.
The family has chosen to forgo a funeral and, instead, donate the money saved to Sonya’s favourite charity, Compassion Canada.
