Sonja A. Woods-McTeer

The world has lost a beautiful smile and a captivating personality. Sonja A. Woods-McTeer's infectious laughter will be heard no more. She passed away peacefully at home on November 7, 2020, surrounded by her husband, daughter and son-in-law.

She was predeceased by her first husband, Virgil Woods, her parents, Loring and Corticello Atkins, her brothers Laurie and Allen Atkins and her sister Violet Hansen.

She was a long-time member of the Ridgeland Baptist Church, where she sang in the senior adult choir. Through her volunteer work with Wreaths Across America, she gave honor to our veterans. A talented baker, she brought happiness to many of her friends by giving away her cakes and pies.

Sonja enjoyed life - friends, family, cooking, baking, travel, and fishing, and was never slow to accept a new challenge, whatever it might be (most recently, learning to play chess). She enjoyed basketball, golf and water-skiing as well as other sports.

And Sonja was a very determined and multi-talented lady - She would and could do whatever needed to be done.  She could be a very gracious hostess, making everyone welcome in her home, or-- could get out a wrench and fix a leaky faucet. Sonja could prepare and serve a meal for 20, or -- she could climb out the attic window of her three-story house and fix the roof. She could negotiate a tough business contract while charming her adversary into becoming a life-long friend. Successful in whatever environment she found herself, her presence could dominate a ballroom or -- she could very capably captain a shrimp boat capturing the respect of the crew.  She prided herself on her independence, but she also loved her family and her friends. She was a 5 foot 2 dynamo on the outside, but she could not hide her incredibly warm and loving heart.

A graduate of Ridgeland High School, Sonja maintained contact with many of her fellow alumni, organizing reunions and other functions for the class of 1957, and at the age of 80, she married Tom McTeer, one of her high school classmates.

Born in Oliver, Georgia May 6, 1939, she spent most of her life in the lowcountry of South Carolina, having lived in both Bluffton and Ridgeland.  She also loved the mountains of North Carolina, where she and her husband owned a summer home.

Sonja is survived by her husband, Tom McTeer, her daughter Barbara Sheehan (John), her granddaughter, Casie Robles (Carlos), two great-grandsons, Hanley and Everett Robles, her step-son, Bradley McTeer and her step-daughter, Heather Schaloff.

A memorial service will be held at 3:00 pm, Monday, November 16, 2020 at Sauls Funeral Home, 310 W. Adams St., Ridgeland. Her remains will be interred in the McTeer family plot at Ebenezer Cemetery in Yemassee, SC. In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to American Cancer Society P.O. Box 22478 Oklahoma City, OK 73123.

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