Eileen Sherritt

Eileen Bair Sherritt, age 98, of Northport, died Dec. 4, 2010, at Forest Manor Nursing Home. Memorial services will be 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, 2010, at St. Mark Methodist Church with Rev. Sam Hardie and Rev. Susan Pendleton officiating. Heritage Chapel Funeral Home, a Dignity Memorial Provider, is in charge of arrangements.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence W. Sherritt, and her brother, Billy Bair.

Survivors include her daughters, Nancie S. Blewitt (Harry) of Northport and Jane S. Blewitt (William) of Bedford, Va.; grandchildren, Laura Smelley (Jim), Larry Blewitt (Cheryl) of Atlanta, Ga., Lance Blewitt, Lisa Eileen Blewitt, Linda Thiele (John), and Sarah Liotta Johnston (Jeff) of Cleveland, Ohio; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Sherritt was born on Sept. 25, 1912. She grew up in a small West Virginia mountain community called Odd. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, she attended nursing school in Bluefield, W.Va., completing her final year of nursing school in New York City. Later, she chose to do a post-graduate program for nurse anesthetists, a relatively new opportunity for women, and went on to work at Mount Sinai Hospital. In New York, she met her future husband, Lawrence Sherritt, whom she married on Aug. 13, 1937. She continued working until the birth of their daughters, Nancie Andrea and Jane Claire. She returned to work in her field when her daughters were in school until her retirement in 1967.

She and her husband, Larry, retired to Atlanta, Ga. where she volunteered as a nurse with several organizations, including the Red Cross Bloodmobiles. At this time, they also traveled the world extensively, always maintaining close ties with their children and grandchildren. In 1986, they moved to Tuscaloosa to be closer to their daughter Nancie and her family. Her husband passed away in 1993. Throughout her life, the religious beliefs from her youth in West Virginia remained important to her, including reading her Bible daily. With each move, she found a church home for herself and her family. She was beloved by her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as “Mom” or “Nana” and will be greatly missed by those who knew her for a lifetime, as a friend or just briefly.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association or St. Mark United Methodist Church Food Pantry.