April 25, 2016

Eva Sonik

Eva Sonik's family history spans several countries. One grandfather, Lewis, came from Germany and met his wife, who came from Latvia, in South Africa, where they married and settled in the Cape Province in the early 1890s. Her mother's family came from Lithuania under difficult circumstances, and her grandmother, a strong and determined woman, traveled a great distance by donkey cart with her two children to reunite the family. Eva was only a few days old when her mother died, and she was raised by her aunt and uncle, who had three sons and were happy to welcome a girl. She grew up in a small country town with a loving family, though keeping a Jewish home was challenging when kosher meat had to arrive by train that often did not stop.

After high school, Eva moved to Johannesburg, the only member of her family to leave the countryside at that time. Her father, holding to old-fashioned views, discouraged her from attending college, so she went to business school and worked in a legal firm, doing well in her career. She met her husband, then in medical school, and they married and raised five children. As the political situation in South Africa grew troubling, the family began discussing emigration. A connection to a doctor in Houston, who helped many South African physicians settle in the United States, led the family to relocate. Her husband quickly secured a position, and all five children came with them.

The family lived in Houston for about 38 years, where Eva worked in her husband's medical office for roughly 28 years, balancing work with picking up the children from school. After she had lived alone for three years, a daughter whose husband was transferred to Dallas encouraged her to move, and Eva relocated to be near family, settling into a senior living community she describes with affection. She has found the people warm and welcoming and has become active in Jewish life, attending synagogue services, Torah study, and luncheons with a rabbi. Zionism and Israel have been important to her family, with children participating in Israel programs and one sister immigrating there. Eva remains deeply grateful to have come to the United States and says she has no regrets.

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