Sheryl made a huge impact on her colleagues and the students in the English Department at ISU over many decades. Her kindness, generous spirit, and love of learning new things (often in an effort to help others and do her job even better) made her a valued member of the department community and a wonderful friend.
I will miss lunches with Sheryl, birthday cards that made me laugh, and a listening ear in tough times. A few of favorite Sheryl memories stand out for me. Together, we sat through a graduate class on content management systems just so we could understand the potential uses for the department website better. For several years, we and other gal pals competed as Team Body English for Live Healthy Iowa competitions, one year winning the University Wellness award for the most creative way to bring the team together (carrying a Mr. Potato Head doll from one campus location to another for selfies). And working with her on many, many videos for the department holiday parties and retirement gatherings; Sheryl had a huge repository of department photos, going back years, that we drew on for humor and community-building. Sheryl embodied community and was the best of us at fostering it. She was loved and will be sorely missed.
Ron, Brad, Ryan, Alberta, and family, may God give you peace as you mourn for your wife, daughter, mother, sister and loved one and celebrate her life, confident that others share your grief over the loss of such a lovely person. I’ll think of Sheryl with every monarch I see, knowing that she is now soaring, pain-free, on her next journey.—Gloria Betcher
