Sona Young, age 91, was peacefully ushered into the arms of Jesus on Jan 6, 2024.

Sona was born on Nov. 03, 1932 in Nitro, W.V. where she was the oldest of six children. Upon graduating from high school, she joined the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War and was stationed in San Angelo, Texas. While serving in the Air Force, she met and married the love of her life, Berton Young.

Sona began her career in the State Civil Service in 1956 as a clerk in the accounting office with the Department of Highways. During her more than 30 years with the Department of Highways, Sona was promoted from clerk typist, to stenographer, and secretary to the district construction engineer for 10 years. She was promoted to the District Business Manager and the first female in Louisiana to hold this position.

In 1972 and 1978, she was presented an Exemplary Service Award by her supervisors. In 1981, Sona received an honorable mention for the Charles E. Dunbar Jr. Career Service Award which was named for the founder of the League and co-author of the original civil service law for Louisiana. Sona retired from the Department of Transportation and Development in 1987, serving the last 15 years as the District Business Administrator.

During her working years and after retirement, she held different positions and was very active in numerous associations including the American Business Women’s Association, District 07 Highway Federal Credit Union, the LA DOTD Federal Credit Union and the Board of Trustees of the LA State Employees Retirement System in Baton Rouge, La. where she helped guide the retirement system, pensions, and investments. She was instrumental in forming the association called “Concerned Citizens for the Calcasieu River and Old Town Bay”, an organization to fight pollution from entering the upper Calcasieu River. Above all, Sona would tell you that raising her children was her greatest accomplishment.

Sona was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Berton Young; second husband, Kenneth Bateman; father, Dewey Frank Hedrick; mother, Mildred B. Casto Endsley; stepfather, David Endsley, and two brothers, Donald Hedrick and Glen Hedrick.

Those left to cherish her memory are her daughter, Kathy Lynn Dever and husband, Steve, of Caseyville, Ill.; son, Ronnie Glen Young and wife, Myra, of Saucier, Miss.; grandson, Landon Paul Young and wife, Liz Marie, of Corinth, Texas; two great-grandsons, Houston James Young and Cash Paul Young; brother, Hancel Jay Hedrick and wife, Carol, of Lake Charles; two sisters, Vada (Skip) Robinson of St. Albans, W.V. and Sharon Lynn Kinney of Sulphur, La., and her extended family and friends whom she loved.

On behalf of Sona, we want to thank her family and friends for touching her life in meaningful ways. You each meant far more than you can imagine to her. We also want to thank the staff at Calcasieu Community Care Center for their care during Sona’s last days. Most of all, we want to thank God for the 91 years He blessed Sona with this gift of life and more importantly, with her Eternal Life.

Sona’s Homegoing Celebration will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024 in the Johnson Funeral Home of Lake Charles Chapel. Burial will follow in Consolata Cemetery under the direction of Johnson Funeral Home. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude’s Hospital.

Words of comfort to the family may be expressed at www.johnsonfuneral home.net