Sherri was the middle child of two siblings – Gary (older) and Kim (younger) – who moved to Missouri, following the parents’ job, then to Des Moines, Iowa, and, finally, to Memphis, Tennessee, where she lived for most of the following years. She graduated from Overton High School in 1972 and subsequently attended Memphis State University, where she received an Honors BA with Honors in English in the summer of 1975. While she was attending class, Sherri met Trent, another student in her Abnormal Psychology class, and the two were married in December 1975.
Following her love of language and communication, Sherri quickly enrolled in a graduate program at Memphis State, receiving a master’s degree in speech-language pathology. She began working in this area with the Shelby County School System and the non-profit Easter Seals Disability Services. When Trent graduated from dental school in 1978, the two adopted a beloved Eskimo Spitz named Moon and moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, where he worked as a general dentist on the air base and she worked in the neighboring school system. by Pascagoula.
In 1980, Sherri gave birth to their first son, Gary Trent, Jr., and the growing family returned to Memphis, where Trent was able to complete an oral surgery residency and the two could be closer to their family. Sherri began to devote her life fully to working as a mother and housewife. In 1987, she had a second son, Eric Dean, thus completing their family.
Invariably, Sherri shared a feeling of electric and infectious joy with everyone she met – neighbors, members of the dental community, even strangers. She was a proud and lifelong member of the Methodist Church from birth, calling United Methodist Emmanuel’s congregation in East Memphis home for over thirty-five years. She shared a long-standing love for live theater (especially Broadway musicals) and live music (especially Elton John, Billy Joel and The Eagles) with close friends and relatives. In her later years, she enjoyed traveling to Napa Valley, California to experience world-famous wine tours and food. Most of his years were also spent with a canine companion. Besides Moon, Sherri had lived with a dachshund named Archie as a teenager; after her sons left home, a black lab named Jada; and, finally, another laboratory, a rescue, named Lucy, who was by her side when she died.
In 2003, Sherri was first diagnosed with cancer, undergoing intense treatment that sent the tumor into remission but also invited additional challenges. Through it all, Sherri never lost her thirst for life or her characteristic and at times unorthodox sense of humor. She also remained strong in her faith. After ten years of remission, the cancer returned, and this time the tumor could not be removed. Remarkably, Sherri has survived nearly a decade beyond the most optimistic predictions, and the words “miracle” and “hard” were never too far removed from a description of her, though Sherri often humbly dismisses them. .
Sherri will be sadly missed by her living family: her husband, Trent Wilson; her son, Gary Wilson (Brooke) of Memphis; her son, Eric Dean Wilson of New York; and his grandsons, McCoy and Cole Wilson.
A visitation with family will be held at Memorial Park Funeral Home on Monday, January 10 from 5 to 7 p.m., and funeral service will be held at the Emmanuel United Methodist Church on Tuesday, January 11 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for memorials to be sent to Emmanuel United Methodist Church or the West Cancer Foundation.
Published by The Daily Memphian on January 7, 2022.