Sherry Butler

Sherry was a wife, mother, teacher,

friend, and child of God.

                                                                                                            
WIFE

She met David while teaching at North Clayton High school where they would send love notes to one another through trusted student messengers.  They were married on a beautiful fall day in 1976 at Winn Park in Midtown.  They honeymooned at the King and Prince Hotel on St. Simons Island.  In 2015, nearly forty years later, they returned there for a visit of walking on thebeach, good food, and reflections of the past.  They built two homes, one in 1978 and one in 1987 to raise their children in.  Sherry and David enjoyed wonderful relationships with friends over their thirty-nine years of marriage and diligently toasted their commitment to one another and their family as they cherished the joys and endured the toils of marriage and raising children.  They complimented each other in many ways; they enjoyed and appreciated each other's love, faithfulness, and company throughout life.  Over the last several years, David lived his love for Sherry by caring for her through much sickness and pain.  They were together in faith, fully loving each other until death did they part. 

MOTHER

Sherry loved her children deeply.  "Try your best - I will always love you no matter what."  Those were her mottos.  There was always a certain sense of apprehension with Sherry - as her concern for Mathew and Michelle never rested.  She never took the easy way out, insisting instead on the road which she thought would be best for her children.  That meant many things: questions and lectures to friends, notes to teachers letting them know that any disciplinary problems would be dealt with at home, never missing an event and lots of calls and emails to check in.  She taught Mathew how to ride his bike and helped Michelle get ready for a pageant. She played Legos, collected stamps, swam in the ocean, played sports, and was successfully engaged in all aspects of her children’s lives, even when they resisted.  She was a lot of fun while always continually encouraging her children.  She was a strict parent, part of her effort to protect her children from the world that she had seen and experienced, and encourage her children towards success.  Despite her valiant efforts, she could not fully protect them from the world.  As young children, she would ask God to transfer their sickness to her. As adults, she would hug them, crying privately, and still asking God to put their burdens on her.  She never ceased to worry about her children.  Her love was truly unconditional and that love is already severely missed.  

On March 4th, 2011, Sherry was given a grandson who put a new sparkle in her eye.  Despite a body riddled with pain, all she wanted to do was sit on the floor to hold him and play with him.  She played games and read books to him and his brothers up until the day she died.  On April 10th, 2014, she was given a granddaughter, her only granddaughter, a beautiful girl, one that reminded her of her own.  In her last weeks, knowing that time was short and wanting to be one of the first to encourage her granddaughter towards strength and independence, she purchased toys that in her mind, pushed her in that direction.  Her last wish, which wasn’t granted, was to see and hold her last “baby” which was very evident in her daughter’s stomach.  Her fourth grandson and fifth grandchild was born fifteen days after her death; he will forever be one of Sherry’s “babies”, as she called her grandchildren.   

TEACHER

Education was an endeavor that Sherry truly believed in and to which she dedicated much of her life.  It was not typing skills or business knowledge she sought to instill in her students, but rather the confidence and capability to do things in life, things that matter.  After having her two children and being away from teaching for years, she decided to go back to work as a teacher, with the intent of saving enough to pay for her children’s college.  She was able to meet that goal as well as one of her last wishes on earth, which was to fund the majority of all five of her grandchildren’s college.  She took her job as a teacher very seriously, not just to teach a skill or transmit some knowledge, but to love her students and teach them how to navigate the world wisely.  She was always a rigorous saver and that allowed her to be extremely generous.  She never refused anyone who was short on lunch money.  She furnished an apartment for a young woman and former student who had no home.  She encouraged and helped the young man who was painting her family's house get his GED.  She thought about, worried about, and prayed for hundreds of students who she got to know personally as they, like many, loved her and trusted her.