Obituary of Sonja D. Klykken-Urtz

Bolton Landing: On April 8, Sonja Deanne Klykken-Urtz of Bolton Landing was called home into God’s merciful arms. A 14-year journey with breast cancer would have discouraged most people. Not Sonja. She turned adversity into a love of life and God. She freely shared her positive outlook, radiant smile, and infectious laugh with everyone she met. In her far-too-short 47 years on Earth, she spread several lifetimes’ worth of kindness and generosity to those around her. Sonja cared for everyone, quietly and without expecting anything in return. When anyone needed it, she baked, cooked, delivered, visited, collected, mailed, hugged, listened, and supported them. She fought for causes close to her, like breast cancer awareness, and those far removed, like lost dogs - no matter where they were from! She was both strong and soft, and she gave everything she had to others. Sonja loved deeply. Most of all, she loved her mother Susan Cotherman Garlick who predeceased her in 2005, but her heart was made whole again when she married Jeff Urtz in 2010 and became a mother to Kaitlin Urtz, both of whom provided incredible care and love to Sonja in her final days. Her “family” spread far beyond her blood relatives - Deanne Cotherman Rehm, Teri Ross, Todd Rehm, and Tenée Casaccio, and her “coozins” Sara Ross Howland and Beth Ross Devine. Sonja nurtured true friendships with hundreds of people she met through her time at Bolton Central School, the family-owned former Ryefield Restaurant in Bolton Landing, her AXO sorority from college, the Bolton Volunteer Fire Department, and her job as a Patient Representative at Glens Falls Hospital. Social distancing will require a delay in celebrating her life with the warmth she deserves, but her family will announce a memorial gathering as soon as possible. In the meantime, Sonja’s uplifting spirit can be honored by making donations to The C.R. Wood Cancer Center at Glens Falls Hospital. Please visit www.alexanderfh.net for online guest book and condolences.