Dorothy L. Sonn

Dorothy Sonn, 98, longtime Stamford resident, passed away peacefully on September 22, 2021 at Sunrise Assisted Living in Stamford.

Born in Newark, NJ on November 1, 1922, Dorothy spent the first half of her life in the Garden State, eventually settling in Montclair where she raised her family and was an active member of the community.

She earned her bachelor’s degree at Bucknell University in 1944 and master’s degree in library science at Rutgers University. At Rutgers she discovered her true calling as a children’s librarian and after moving to Stamford in 1971, became the media specialist at Newfield School where she spent many happy years.

A natural historian, Dorothy’s scrapbooks reveal so much more than the stories of her family, providing a picture of the world as it was while those stories unfolded. Fittingly, she served as the historian for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Stamford, where she was a member for over 40 years.

Adventurer, gracious hostess, loyal friend, avid reader and prolific letter writer, Dorothy will be sorely missed by all who loved her, especially her children, Paul Carlsen of

Nyack, NY, Dean Carlsen of Queens, NY, Jacqueline Carlsen of Norwalk, CT, treasured granddaughter, Zoe Harrer of Norwalk and the many, many friends she made along the way.

Special thanks to the staff at Sunrise Assisted Living and Constellation Hospice for lovingly tending to Dorothy in the final phase of her journey.

A celebration of Dorothy’s life will be held on Saturday, October 9th at 11 a.m. at Leo P. Gallagher and Son, 2900 Summer Street, Stamford, CT.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Stamford, Dolly Parton’s imaginationlibrary.org, or the seaotterfoundationtrust.org.