Sonja Leila Levinger
July 10, 1930-July 12, 2012
Mountain View, California

Sonja Levinger, a resident of Mountain View, Calif., has died. She lived in the Palo Alto area, including Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto and Mountain View, since 1981. She was 82.

Born Sonja Gold in Brooklyn, N.Y., she lived throughout the United States and Europe until finally settling in the Bay Area. She spent most of her life as an antiquarian bookseller, owning bookshops throughout the United States. She had a great love of languages and was fluent in French and Italian and understood many others. A graduate of NYU, she obtained a second master's degree in TESOL from USF and for many years was a devoted teacher in that field, employed by Sega, De Anza college and many private clients. Her students loved her dearly and she was a beloved mentor to many of them. She continued to tutor several private students until the final week of her life.

She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Ivan; her children, Elizabeth Ritzi, Carl and Natasha Levinger; her sons-in-law, Bill Ritzi and Brett Christensen; her daughter-in-law, Karen Siscoe; niece, Andrea Vaucher; nephew, Bob Katz; and loving grandchildren Johnathan, Brian, Christopher, Harper and Clyde.

Tags: arts/media, teacher/educator