Sonja Tate was born July 1, 1958 to the union of Rosa Lee and Dan Tate in the City of St. Louis. Sonja was the eldest of three children. In 1980, Sonja graduated from Stephens College in Columbia, MO and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics. In June 1983, she met and fell in love with Lauchland Alexander Roberts.
Sonja’s career continued to prosper. She won several noteworthy awards related to her quality of work at IBM that included recognition for overseas projects showing outstanding skills and prowess. This resulted in an outstanding achievement award in 1986.
During this timeframe, Sonja’s family grew and a new addition was welcomed. His name was Lauchland Alexander Roberts II, born on March 27, 1984. This represented the pinnacle of her career at IBM. Numerous trips and banquets followed this career move. It was also during this time that the marriage branched out to a different direction. In 1987, Sonja divorced from Lauchland Roberts and became a single parent. This divorce ended in a novel productive fashion.
Sonja accepted promotion and a corporate move to Kansas City, MO. For the next two years, she strived and prospered as a marketing manager in St. Louis, MO. After honing her skills at IBM for a few more years, it was decided for Sonja to branch out into other business directions. Sonja left IBM on her own accord in January 1989. Over the next several years, Sonja held various high corporate level positions which she honed her marketing skills through various companies through IBM, Southwestern Bell, Express Scripts, and the state of Missouri Department of Mental Health. Also during this period, time was spent on the development and nutriment of her children, who grew to be outstanding citizens.
Lauchland II graduated from Xavier University with a doctorate in Pharmacy and is now pursuing a fellowship in Memphis, TN: Shannon graduated from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and is pursuing her PHD in Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. All children have been very successful to date. In particular, Shawn, the youngest has a lot to live up to. He is presently at Parkway West middle School as an 8th grader with a B average. He plans to be a “business man and CEO of a corporation”.
Sonja’s hobbies included tennis and running. Sonja wants to be remembered for volunteering and giving back to the community. She leaves her mother, sister (Linda), brother (Danny), three children, one granddaughter (Adrienne), and a host of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
