Sondra Feenan Brasher

Sondra Feenan Brasher, 82, of Seattle, Washington, passed away on August 4, 2021.

Born February 13th, 1939, in St. John, Washington, Sondra was the daughter of Gene and Josephine Feenan. The eldest of five, Sondra grew up on a wheat farm in the quiet hills of Washington State's Palouse Country. She was a talented pianist and after high school headed east to study at Oberlin's Conservatory of Music, graduating in 1962.

After college Sondra moved to Pittsburgh, PA, for a job teaching elementary school music. There she met fellow educator Mary Lib Calhoun, who introduced Sondra to her son, Tom, who became her first husband. Sondra and Tom had two children, Kristin and Corinna Calhoun, before divorcing in 1976.

She then got her real estate license, taught music, and was a paralegal for many years at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell in Wilmington, DE, and later at DuPont, in their real estate law department.

Upon retiring, Sondra made the move from Newark, DE, to Seattle, WA. There she found one of her greatest pleasures in memoir writing and was a prolific writer for the last seven years of her life. She took great care and enjoyment from her writing, and her memory of fine details from her childhood forward are remarkable. In Seattle Sondra volunteered at the Ballard Senior Center and, until mobility issues and then COVID limited her access, loved spending time outside at different Seattle parks, enjoyed the local restaurants and found new and lasting friendships.

Sondra is survived by her daughters Kristin Calhoun of Washington D.C., Corinna Calhoun (and husband Jason) of Duvall, WA, and her three grandsons, Benn Mellinger, Dylan Mellinger, and Tom Calhoun. She is also survived by her siblings Gene Feenan (and wife Jan) of Ephrata, WA, Sherry Straus (and husband David) of Medford, OR, Craig Feenan (and wife Fern) of Colfax, WA, and Laurette Feenan of Medical Lake, WA; as well as nieces and nephews, a number of lovely cousins, wonderful friends and a cat named Gidget. She is also survived by her fellow writers (who she referred to often as her 'second family') in the memoir writing class taught by Claire Anderson at the Ballard Senior Center.

A virtual celebration of life ceremony is being planned. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to help the world's birds through the Audubon Society: https://act.audubon.org/.