Sonja Jaclyn Spiller

Sonja Jaclyn Spiller, of Homewood, Alabama, passed away on December 5, 2020 at age 32 from complications of Covid-19. Sonja was a licensed professional counselor and owner of Mind in Moment, LLC, in Homewood. She was also employed at the Beacon Recovery program of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

Known affectionately by her family as Sunny, she was born on July 4, 1988 in Wilmington, Delaware. Her early years were spent in Harford County, Maryland, and as a student in Cecil County, Maryland, at the historic West Nottingham Academy. Upon moving to Birmingham, Alabama, in 2001, she enrolled at The Altamont School, graduating in 2006. Sonja received her Bachelor's degree from Birmingham Southern College in 2010, majoring in Psychology. At BSC, she was among a select group of Jewish students who met privately with Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Elie Wiesel, whose words inspired her future dedication to causes of social justice and preservation of human dignity. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi Women's fraternity at BSC. After graduation, she relocated to Portland, Oregon to attend graduate school at Lewis & Clark College, earning a Master's degree in Counseling in 2013. Returning to Birmingham, Sonja began her people-helping career at Metro Treatment of Alabama prior to opening her private practice and working with UAB.

Throughout her school years and beyond, Sonja had a love of music, theater, and stagecraft, especially behind the stage, working on sets with the crew of IATSE Local 78. She was so proud to work as the "sound guy" for her dad and their band, 7th Avenue South, playing gigs for local charity events, including The Alabama Theatre. In addition to her backstage work at The Alabama Theatre, she also performed there on stage as a member of The Altamont School Choir in Opera Birmingham's 2005 gala production of Verdi's "Aida."

Sonja is survived by her parents, J. Bruce and Evelyn E. Spiller; her brother, Jason S. Spiller; and her fiancé, Adam S. Gallet. Her loving family includes her uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, great-aunts and -uncles, and many extended family members and devoted friends. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, George S. and Mildred Berman Spiller; her grandfather, Sykes R. Ewing, Jr., her grandmother, Rachel Jane Nocke Fries and step-grandfather, M. Michael Fries.

A memorial celebration of Sonja's life will be held at a later date. An endowment fund has been established at UAB in her memory and in gratitude to continue her life-saving mission at UAB's Beacon Center.

https://go.uab.edu/SonjaSpillerMemorialFund