Obituary

Sherry Ann Schmidt, beloved mother, passed away peacefully at the dawn of spring, March 20th, 2019. Most recently from Burlington, WA, Sherry was born in Philadelphia, PA on August 4th, 1940 to Grover and Celestine Brown (Carr). Sherry lived her faith and a life of service and caring.

Sherry graduated high school from the American Community School in Beirut, Lebanon. (Well, actually she and her school mates were quickly evacuated from Lebanon in May when war broke out and she never had a formal high school graduation ceremony, but her diploma was mailed later.) She enjoyed her time in Beirut during the school year, exploring nearby Europe on school breaks. During the summers she lived with her parents in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where her father worked at Aramco. She graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in political science. She later returned to school to earn her Master’s Degree in Early Child Education.

She is preceded in death by her husband of 40 years, Don Martin Schmidt, and a multiple of well-loved animals. As a young family they moved to Fircrest, Washington where she raised their two daughters. Go Falcons! Don and Sherry opened their home to foster children even before Greta came along. Later our home became a Receiving Home welcoming close to 300 girls at a moment’s notice. Still not quite feeling she was doing enough, she also drove a school bus for special needs students for the Clover Park School District. Sherry then moved on to teach parenting classes at the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

Sherry continued to be an advocate for children and their young parents after she moved to Skagit Valley. She volunteered at a home for pregnant women and supported her young ladies in many ways. She also shared her love of reading by leading book groups at Edison School where she was known as Grandma Sherry to many students. She was a mom to everyone who knew her and unselfishly mentored and loved many.

Sherry taught us several very important life lessons:
Go camping and read the whole time.
Read before you go to sleep, until you go to sleep.
Eat chocolate and always have some with you.
Ice cream is an important food group to be honored.
Don’t mess with her Teddy Bear collection or comment negatively on them.
You can never have too many office supplies.
You never have too many craft supplies, you just don’t have a big enough space. Expand.
All cat names must start with an R – Ra, Randy, Rumple, Rory, Ruthie… Black cats are preferable.
You must always have several pets, they should be as quirky and behave as strange as possible. One’s household must contain dogs and cats. Turtles and birds are also acceptable. All animals must be thoroughly spoiled.
Make sure you have plenty of chocolate.
If you eat out, it’s important to spill on your front to show appreciation of your meal.
If you are going to go into education, as we all did, marry wealthy. We didn’t.
Naps are a necessary part of life. Enjoy them. Look forward to them.
Show love and kindness to everyone you meet. Including animals.

Sherry was an avid scrapbooker and has many, many supplies which we are still discovering. Office supplies were also a great joy and she took a great delight in exploring stores to add to her office. Her collection of teddy bears meets or exceeds her amount of scrapbook materials!

Sherry is survived by her two daughters and their families; Donna Cole, Son-in-Law Larry, and Grandsons Spencer (fiancee Serena Seigman), and Taggart, and Gretchen Mertes and Son-in-Law, Isaac, and her pets Sammy and Ruthie. She is also survived by her sister Susan Allison and niece Victoria. Don’s extensive family also remembers her fondly and speaks highly of “Aunt Sherry.” Sherry loved her family dearly and was happiest when spending time with them whether at home or on adventures. Her daughters both considered her one of their best friends and greatest confidant and encourager.

Sherry lived a life that deserves great celebration – so she’ll need two:

An Open House will be held on Sunday, April 7th from 1:00 to 4:00 at Larry and Donna’s at 2445 Old Highway 99 North Road, Burlington WA, 98233. The celebration is Teddy Bears and Chocolate, two of her favorite things. Please join us and bring a dessert or snack to share, but in honor of Sherry, nothing too healthy please.

A second celebration will be held on May 4, 2019, 2:00 PM at First Christian Church of Puyallup, 623 – 9th Avenue SW, Puyallup, WA 98371 (one block west of the Puyallup Fair roller coaster). As a lover of Science Fiction, she would have loved the nod to Star Wars. In life and in death, she is always loving and so loved.