Brenda Kay “Sophia” Kriger
July 18, 1954-September 10, 2020

Brenda Kay “Sophia” Kriger was born on July 18, 1954 in Eugene, Oregon. She was the 5th of 6 children born to Clyde and Dorothy Kriger.

She was a cute, curly haired little girl. As a 4 year old she was the runner up in the miss slick chick beauty contest at the Broiler Festival. Her older sisters Jeanette and Carolyn used to dress her up as their own little, living doll. As a grade schooler she learned to play the piano and sew, skills she enjoyed for the rest of her life. In middle school she took up sports. In high school she competed in track, throwing shot put and discus and setting records that she held for 20 years at Springfield High School. She earned many ribbons and medals. She attended Northwest Christian College and graduated from the University of Oregon with a BA in Physical Education. She attended the University of Washington for elementary education, and later went to school to learn accounting and tutored other students in accounting and math.

Brenda worked for many years in child care, teaching young children. Later she became a nanny. In 1981 she moved to the Seattle area and lived for several months with her sister. During that time she and her sister took oil painting classes together. She was an excellent artist and has given several paintings to friends and family.

Brenda had a great love for God, which caused her to be involved in plays and musicals at her churches over the years. She played piano, organ, percussion instruments and flute and sang solos. She was involved at the First Christian Church in Springfield in the high school and college groups and later became an Orthodox Christian at St. Paul’s Orthodox Church. She was very good at learning how to heal from some of her childhood memories and ended up writing a book about it, which is currently being published.

Some of Brenda’s most important times happened in social settings where she was playing a game, laughing, or being frank about something that caused most of us to share with her in some of life’s most difficult transitions.