Sonya Yoder-Beery

Sonya Yoder-Beery, 53, died peacefully at her home in Indianapolis early on the morning of March 4, 2025, of metastatic breast cancer, attended by her adoring family and by the love and prayers of many dear friends and relatives. In remembering Sonya, we think of these words from Mary Oliver, one of her favorite poets: “Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”

Sonya was born in Indianapolis on February 26, 1972, but spent her early years in Goshen, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio, before moving with her family to North Manchester, Indiana, at age six. Sonya was raised in the Mennonite faith, but her family found a welcoming Anabaptist community in North Manchester at Manchester Church of the Brethren. As an adult, Sonya’s faith led her to Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis, where she served as a deacon and an elder, sharing her church’s belief that Christ calls us to advocate especially for people who are voiceless, stateless, misunderstood, marginalized, or oppressed.

Having studied violin as a child via the Suzuki method, Sonya seldom forgot a tune. She loved music in all its forms—from children’s songs and classical works to folk, R&B, yacht rock, hip-hop, and even many of the off-key hipsters and “sad dad” bands favored by her husband. Sonya played violin and sang beautifully throughout her lifetime, often during church and for the weddings and memorial services of friends, continuing to find time and energy for this during her final few years.

Sonya was salutatorian of Manchester High School’s class of 1990, graduated from Goshen College in 1994, and earned a master’s degree from the Speech-Language Pathology program at the University of Minnesota in 1998. She made a career she loved as a language and communication therapist to young children in the public schools.

In 2013, she landed a dream position in Indianapolis Public Schools at Center for Inquiry School 27, serving as both teacher and therapist to young children in her very own developmental preschool classroom. In 2019, she was School 27’s Teacher of the Year and a candidate for Teacher of the Year for the IPS district. Over the course of her career, Sonya kept in touch with many of her students’ parents, who shared their love and gratitude by sending photos of their children along with other joyful news.

Most of all, Sonya enjoyed spending time with the people she loved. These included the many hundreds of friends she made through the twists and turns of her life; her extended family, who gather year after year to reconnect, celebrate, and catch up with one another; and her close family: her parents, two sisters by birth (and several sisters and brothers in spirit), nieces and nephews, and in-laws. Whether right around the corner or halfway around the world, none of them was ever far from Sonya’s heart.

With her husband and two daughters, Sonya loved hiking, camping, beach time, traveling the world, and cheering loudly at junior roller derby bouts, volleyball matches, cross country meets, marathon and 5K races, and triathlons. Getting cozy at home was another great joy: long hugs, listening to music, reading, watching movies, playing with the family cats, or hanging out on the porch with neighbors. Being a mother was Sonya’s ultimate dream job, and she put everything she had into it, reading stories, singing songs, hunting up materials for costumes and pretend play, and providing evenings and weekends and summers full of diversions for her daughters, their cousins, and their friends.

Sonya is preceded in death by her mother Marilyn (Troyer) Yoder and grandparents Alva and Ruth (Eash) Yoder and Raymond and Kathryn (Hartzler) Troyer. She is survived by her husband Robin Beery of Indianapolis and daughters Ruth and Hazel; her father Brad Yoder (Jeanne Smucker) of Noblesville; her sisters Greta Yoder Slater (Nick Slater) of Indianapolis and Heidi Yoder of Leadville, Colorado; and by those family, friends, colleagues, and former students, too many to number, whose lives she changed forever for the better.

A first visitation will be held on Saturday, March 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), 701 N. Delaware St., in Indianapolis.

A second visitation will be held on Friday, May 2, from 3 to 5 p.m.at Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), with a Celebration of Life Saturday, May 3 at 2 p.m. at the church.

Sonya has requested that those who attend wear bright colors in honor of her deep and ongoing love of creation.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Sonya’s honor to Trans Lifeline, a peer-led organization supporting trans and nonbinary people, at www.TransLifeline.org, or to MariSon Project for Hospice Training, a foundation established in honor of Sonya and her mother to provide best-practice hospice and palliative care training, at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-marison-project-for-hospice-training.