Sherry Marie Heying

Sherry Marie Heying was born July 4, 1947 in Omaha, Nebraska. Her parents, John Leland Heying and Bernice (Baumgardner) Heying, moved to Portland, Oregon, within months of her birth. The family lived in Portland until her parents divorced. Following her mother's remarriage, to Joseph E. McGill, the new family moved to the Cincinnati, Ohio, area finally settling in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Sherry graduated high school there and then returned to Oregon for the remainder of her life.

Never married, she is survived by her dog, Marie; her cat, Trixie; and cousins in Nebraska.

She graduated from Emanuel Hospital School of Nursing in 1968, passing the Nursing Board examination to become a Registered Nurse. She returned to school graduating from Linfield College, Magna Cum Laude, in 1978. She participated in the development and presentation of the first Emergency Room Nursing course in the Portland area.

Initially working in the Emergency Departments of Woodland Park and Holladay Park hospitals, she moved into ER management, education, Quality Assurance and Risk Management. She worked for Kaiser Permanente for 23 years, starting as the Risk Management position at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center and taking over the same job at Bess Kaiser Medical Center. She retired as the Regional Director of the Medical Legal Services Department dealing with medical malpractice cases.

She enjoyed exploring and photographing the Pacific Northwest and loved all parts of Oregon, especially the Metolius and Umpqua rivers, Camp Sherman and the entire coast. She was an avid reader. She adopted stray animals, saving many abandoned neighborhood cats. She also loved dogs, often making friends with their owners. Following her retirement, she was finally able to adopt her own dog, Marie, who was her great companion. She volunteered at the Oregon Humane Society in the cattery and the laundry. She was a member of the Taoist Tai Chi Society.

Message from Sherry: Thank you to all the wonderful people that were part of my life. You enriched my experience in so many ways. From the patients who unquestioningly trusted me, to my co-workers and mentors who taught me so much about life and caring for one another. Thank you to the physicians who treated me as an ally, an equal and as a friend. Thank you to my family and friends for always being there, helping me grow, caring when I fell and teaching me what love means. And to Jeffrey, thanks for all the years we had.

Contributions to your favorite Wildlife or Environmental Defense charity or to the Oregon Humane Society.