Sherene Waddingham

Sherene DeMill Waddingham, better known as Sherry to those who loved her, passed away peacefully at the age of 75 in the early morning hours of October 11, 2025, after a years-long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Sherry was born on January 29, 1950, in Salt Lake City, Utah, the first child of Donald DeMill and Voniel Ivory DeMill. Growing up she attended Nibley Park Elementary School, Irving Junior High School, and South High School. Throughout her life, Sherry often sang South High songs because she loved her time there, especially the two years she spent as a member of the pep club. Having taught herself to play the cello, she performed in the school orchestra and enjoyed taking part in school productions. Sherry went on to receive a state normal scholarship from the University of Utah, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Prior to graduating from college, Sherry worked at the Mrs. J.G. McDonald Chocolate Company in Salt Lake City, a job she often spoke of with great fondness due in no small part to the easy access to delicious sweets! After graduating from college, Sherry began a career in public service that spanned the rest of her working life, including stints working for the Utah Travel Council (now the Utah Office of Tourism) and for Utah Senator Frank E. Moss before settling into a long-term role as the grants and endowments manager at the Utah Arts Council. Sherry loved her time working for the State of Utah, which included an opportunity to travel to the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts to present information on the Utah Arts Council’s $2.3 million Arts Endowments Fund Program in 1996. She was awarded Outstanding State Employee by Governor Michael O. Leavitt for the year 1996/1997 out of a pool of 28,000 state employees at the time. She retired from the Arts Council in 2008.

Sherry was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She served in numerous callings throughout her life, including in a Relief Society presidency, but she was perhaps best known in her neighborhood for a run of about two decades as ward organist. For years, Sherry also volunteered to staff the telephone lines for the Salt Lake Temple’s prayer roll. She deeply valued her Mormon pioneer heritage and instilled gratitude for family history in her family. She loved attending meetings of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers with friends and family and was proud to talk about the Ivory and DeMill family pioneer ancestors and pioneer-era home in Manti, Utah that had been restored by her father.

There was no greater joy in Sherry’s life than her family. She married Brent Michael Waddingham, a native son of Delta, Utah, in 1984, and the two welcomed their only child, Heath, to the family that December. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple in 2004. Weekly Sunday visits with her parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews were

the norm for much of Sherry’s life, coupled with periodic visits to Delta to visit her Waddingham in-laws and annual reunions of her mother-in-law’s Michaelson family in Mayfield, Utah. She loved going to lunch with her sister Terrie and aunt Carol, especially for a turkey sandwich at The Dodo or Feldman’s Deli. She was and remains the proud grandmother of four beautiful grandchildren, whose soccer, dance, basketball, and tumbling performances she endeavored never to miss, notwithstanding her physical limitations later in life. When her grandkids were not performing on a given weekend, she would seek to attend the performances and sporting events of her nephews and nieces. At Christmastime she loved to give out calendars of Utah’s scenery, and her name was permanently linked to the homemade fudge and divinity she loved to bring to family parties and gift to neighbors. When her parents approached the end of their lives, Sherry, together with her brothers and sister, spent hours each day visiting and caring for them, which Sherry viewed as both an immense responsibility and an enormous blessing. She always sought to follow her Savior’s example, never hesitating to put the needs of others ahead of her own.

Sherry has been reunited with her parents, Donald DeMill and Voniel Ivory DeMill, as well as grandparents, aunts, and uncles who preceded her in death. She is survived by her husband, Brent Waddingham; her son and daughter-in-law, Heath and Becky Waddingham; her grandchildren Connor, Harper, Avery, and Elliott; her siblings and their spouses, Terrie (Milan) Buhler, Ted (Susan) DeMill, Jack (Rosann) DeMill, and Troy (Susannah) DeMill; her aunts Carol (James) Archuleta, Karen Ivory, and Denise Ivory; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, extended family, and friends.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Joshua Romney and Reggie Clemons, RN for their attention, care, and advocacy on Sherry’s behalf near the end of her life; the staff and administration at Twin Oaks Assisted Living for their care and consideration; and the members and leaders of the Kenwood Ward (and the former Grandview Third Ward) for their love and concern.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 17, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the Salt Lake Wilford Stake Center, 3080 South Kenwood Street (1765 East), Salt Lake City, Utah 84106. Friends and family are invited to visit at the church on Thursday, October 16, from 6:00-8:00 p.m., and Friday morning from 10:00-10:45 a.m. prior to the service. Interment will be at Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park following the service.

Funeral services can be viewed on Zoom at the following link: https://zoom.us/j/97863953789.