Karen Sonja Down

Karen Sonja Down, affectionately known to her family and friends as Sonja, died in her sleep on January 31, 2023, just a few days short of her 86th birthday.  Sonja was born on February 3, 1937, in Idaho Falls, Idaho to Oscar Emanuel Carlson and Gladys Patricia Carlson. Shortly after Sonja’s birth, her mother passed away leaving Sonja and her older brother Arvid Dean Carlson to the loving care of their father and numerous aunts and uncles.

Oscar died in 1944 and Sonja and her brother Dean came to Klamath Falls to join their extended family, Rosie and Carl Carlson and their children. Sonja lived in Klamath Falls until her death.

Sonja was married to, and is survived by her ex-husband, Harvol Down with whom she had two children: her son Matthew (Julie K) Down and grandchildren, Kayla and Madeline of Washington state; and her son John (Julie) Down and grandchildren, Lauren, Logan and Jordan of Utah. She is survived by her brother Dean Carlson, of Huntington Beach, California. She was the loving aunt to numerous nieces and nephews living in various locations across the United States. 

Sonja led an active life with her family and friends, and in the service of her church.  In addition to answering numerous callings for her church, she served a mission in the Salt Lake City genealogy library in Family and Church History.  She was a well-known leader on genealogy and her help was sought on many levels.  She never tired of helping and getting a person on the right path for accurate and defensible entries. Many families, including her own, owe their family records and ancestry information to her and her tenacious investigating ability and competency.

Sonja loved to travel, whether to visit her sons and their families at their homes, or on a cruise with friends, or a trip to China. She had a yearning to travel and always wanted to be a “mouse in your pocket” when anyone was some place she wanted to be. She enjoyed exploring the world through books and was a regular visitor to the library. 

A Funeral Service will be held on Friday, February 17, at the LDS Home & Martin Chapel, 501 Martin St, Klamath Falls, OR 97601. Services will begin with public visitation at 10 am, followed by a funeral service at 11 am. Interment will be at Klamath Memorial Park.

To pay tribute to the care that Sonja received in her last days and her devotion to the library, in lieu of flowers please consider a memorial gift to the Heart of Hospice Foundation at 2210 Shallock Avenue, Klamath Falls, OR 97603, or the Friends of the Klamath County Library at PO Box 1707, Klamath Falls, OR 97601.