Sherry leaves behind her husband, John, her daughter, Mary Sullivan Roark, many relatives, her multitudes of friends, her kitties and her beloved roses. Sherry was a woman filled with kind words and good thoughts about those she gathered around her. I was honored to be one of those privileged to know her. She had a poetic sensibility about her as you could witness by any of the many arrangement schedules she wrote for our rose shows. The woman had a great sense of humor and whimsy. She loved to chat, and we did, sometimes for an hour or more on the phone. 

Sherry served as an officer and board member of the Desert Rose Society since its early years. She was truly one of the members that made the society the success it is today. Sherry loved matching people up and she delighted in making up the seating plan for our annual holiday and installation dinner. Even when she was so sick and in the hospital she thought I really should meet the very nice nurse she had caring for her.  

Toward the end she was not as concerned about the fact she was leaving this life as she was about how it would affect the ones she loved. To the end she was concerned about what she could do to make things better for others. She was generous to a fault. During her last two weeks I spent a night at her bedside holding her hand because she and I had some things we needed to talk about. She asked if I would write something nice about her for the Desert Rose Society newsletter. I told her I would do that. Good-bye, my dear Sherry.