November 20, 1942 - August 14, 2024
Sherry Needle, 81, was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and artist who passed away peacefully at her home in Stone Mountain, Georgia on August 14.
Born in Dayton, Ohio in 1942 to Delton and Mildred Summers, Sherry spent her childhood growing up in San Diego, Memphis, South Bend, New Orleans and Chicago. She began college at the University of Iowa and continued at The American Academy of Art in Chicago.
Sherry pursued a career in graphic arts, first in Chicago and then in Atlanta. After she married she resumed her passion for representational art, beginning with a contract from the Atlanta Fernbank Museum of Natural History. She was a charter member of the Atlanta Fine Arts League, and a member of Portrait Society of Atlanta and Atlanta Pen Women, exhibiting at venues such as the Booth Western Art Museum and earning many awards including the Wolfe Art Club in New York. A versatile painter, Sherry worked in portraiture, plein air, and still life, and depicted the classical human figure in art and sculpture.
She met her husband of 55 years, Jack Needle, when the two were working in Atlanta. With an avid interest in other cultures, Sherry and Jack traveled extensively and collected artifacts from international destinations, ranging from Kenya and Tanzania to Tibet and Mongolia, Peru and Galapagos, Japan and Vietnam.
Beyond her artistry, Sherry was an extraordinary wife, mother and grandmother. She nurtured her family with extreme passion and dedication. Her love was unwavering, her support limitless, her attention profound. She was, and will always be, the heart and soul of her family. She will be greatly missed, for what she provided to everyone can never be replaced.
Sherry is survived by her husband Jack, her children Dan Needle and Melissa DeBow and step-children Mark and Steven Needle and nine grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to her favorite charity, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org
