Born November 23, 1943, to Glen and Dorothy Wilson, Sheryl graduated from Iowa Falls High School before attending St. Mary's School of Nursing in Rochester, Minn., and serving her country as a Captain in the U.S. Army Nursing Corps during the Vietnam War. Upon her return to civilian life, she married and had three daughters and lived and worked in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa Falls before moving with her children to California in 1980 to begin a new chapter in life.
Raising three girls on her own so far from family and friends was a struggle, but Sheryl's strength and resilience persisted, and she worked tirelessly to provide opportunities for her kids while teaching them to be kind and to value love, justice, education and the arts. She enjoyed cooking, entertaining, gardening, traveling and shopping, and always had room in her heart and her home for lots of furry, four-legged babies. Those who knew her well would say Sheryl had a great sense of humor, an equally great lack of patience, a knack for telling it like it is and some very strong opinions. She was fiercely independent and dearly loved.
When Sheryl and her daughters moved back to Iowa in 1993, she felt like she had come home. She lived in Ames for a time before moving back to Iowa Falls in 1997 to be close to her mother during her final years and to care for her community, as Director of Greenbelt Home Care, until she retired in 2008. Her love for family pulled her back to central Iowa, where she spent her remaining years surrounded by her daughters, their spouses and her five beloved grandchildren. She had many names and titles over the course of her lifetime - daughter, sister, friend, boss, mother - but treasured nothing more than being called Grandma Sheryl or, simply, Grammy.
Sheryl is survived by her sister and her husband, Glenita and Tom Sall; her brother and his wife, David and Judie Wilson; her daughters Sara (John) Sandhoff, Erin (Ryan) Kurth and Quin (Kim) Johnson; and her five grandchildren, Aidan, Genesee, Hannah, Jonah and Claire. All of these she touched deeply with her tenacity, wit, charm and unconditional love, and she will be forever missed.
Because its programming stands for all that Sheryl was passionate about, the family would be honored to have donations made to the Friends of Iowa PBS Foundation, 6535 Corporate Drive, PO Box 6400, Johnston, IA 50131-6400.
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