Elva SONNTAG Obituary

RIP my darling mum.
Miss your 2 hour long ( or more) telephone conversation, your hugs and you.

Darling mum. I miss you every day and know that I had the best Mum ever. Give my love to Dad and Keren and all the rest of the family who are with you. Pam

Dear Elva, dear friend and ally. I am so glad we met and enjoyed so much time together. You are a star! love Glynis

I have very happy memories of Elva. She, Ron and Keren were our Johnsview Tce neighbours for a number of years and over that time became great friends. I kept in contact with her and visited her in Cambridge - she was always very interested to hear news of my family. She was a very intelligent lady and an inspiration to all who knew her. My sincere sympathy to Pam, Phillip, Andrew and their families.

Mrs Sonntag (as I knew her growing up) was my neighbour in Hillcrest, Hamilton. She was truly a wonderful special lady and I enjoyed spending time next door - she was especially helpful with my school projects. My sister and I had a lot of time for our special friend, Keren. Elva took an interest in me growing up, going to Waikato Uni, getting married and having my own children. I have such fond memories. Condolences to the family. RIP Elva

I also was a member of the Education Department team in the '80's. Elva was like Mum to us all and her caring extended beyond the University gate. A couple of school holidays she arranged for me to take Jacki in to "help out" with envelope stuffing or the like. Jacki, now 39 with three littlies. Elva was the lady who kept us all happy. Elva, I will miss you but treasure the times we've had since those Uni days. With love.

Like Sue I was a member of the Department of Education in the 1980s. Elva looked after us all really well, and I loved her then. I have lost touch in more recent times and did not know about her passing till I had an email from Sue Middleton. Ii am very sorry not to have been at the funeral. But my thoughts go back to that very lovely woman who meant so much to us all back then. Wendy Drewery

I was sad to hear of Elva's death and would like to send my condolences to the family. Elva was the secretary of the Department of Education at Waikato University when I joined the department as a lecturer in 1980. She was kind and welcoming to me, my husband George and our little three year old daughter Kate. Kate, now 36 and a mother of three, remembers playing with the little red ladybird magnets on Elva's typewriter! I have recently retired from the university, and remember Elva with great affection. She will be missed.

I live in Ireland but heard about your sad loss of Elva today. I got to know and admire Elva through her great friendship with my husband Brian's aunt, Bertha Zurcher. Elva and I were also fellow mature students who graduated together from Waikato University. Although I saw Elva only infrequently, I thought her a wonderful woman and an inspiration to us all. She had such great spirit and a thirst for knowledge and understanding. Sincere condolences from us both.