A graveside burial for friends and family will be at 11 a.m. Monday, May 18, at West Lawn Cemetery in Gering. A celebration of life will follow at 2 p.m. at Harrisburg Community Church. In lieu of flowers, please direct memorials to the church or Banner County Historical Society.
Sherry was born Sept. 6, 1936, in Scottsbluff to Silas and Agnes (Walker) Daggett, the third of the couple’s three daughters. She attended Scottsbluff Public Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. After taking a few business courses, she began her work career in Scottsbluff.
Around that time she met John Gifford. He quickly won the approval of Agnes, who told her daughter, “I’d set my cap toward that fellow.” They were married Oct. 8, 1961. Their first days as newlyweds had to compete with the World Series. The honeymoon — and the ensuing 59-year marriage — won.
Sherry joined her husband’s farm-and-ranch life in Banner County, about 5 miles north of Harrisburg. She kept meticulous financial records, which on occasion conflicted with the numbers John remembered (or maybe was hoping for). When needed, she also helped feed cattle, pull a calf or kill a snake. And of course she ran the home, cooking for working men and, in the years when tractors and equipment were smaller, sometimes delivering food to them in the field. Her duties increased exponentially when the couple’s three sons arrived between 1962 and 1965.
She served as a Sunday School teacher at Harrisburg Community Church and participated in Church Missionary Ladies. She was a county election worker from the late 1980s to the mid 2010s and on the Banner County Historical Society Board, working many years at the museum. She was a member of bridge and pinochle card clubs and the Wildcat Community Club. After her sons were grown, she began actively researching genealogy along with a few friends and family members.
The biggest lesson she taught her boys was the importance of love and family. She set an enduring example by caring for her aging mother in addition to an already busy life. On the rare occasions she was with her sisters, she demonstrated how much fun family can be. She displayed the mettle and gentleness marriage requires. After her brood flew the coop, she kept the family close with weekly phone calls, frequent letters, and on Valentine’s Day, an entire batch of Rice Krispies treats shaped into one giant heart. When daughters-in-law came along, she extended her love to them, selflessly yielding to make room for their families, too. She was there for the birth of all seven grandchildren, and they received some of the same tutelage — and food — that shaped their fathers.
She would have done the same for her great-grandchildren, but God decided it was time for her “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Survivors include sons Brad (Robin) of Lincoln, Craig (Holly) of Roca, and Kyle (Lynn) of North Platte; grandchildren Madison, Josha (Cameron) Grim, Emerie (Cole) Meyer, Johnna, Samuel, Regan and Lance; great-grandchildren Marlowe and Merritt; sister Leah Rae Schneider of Lincoln; brother-in-law Roger (Shirley) Gifford of Gering; niece Kay (Doug) Wendt of Gering; and nephew Jeff (Patti) Schneider of Lincoln. She was preceded in death by her husband; sister Charlotte; brothers-in-law Robert Johnston and Kenneth Schneider; and nephew Skip (Eva) Johnston.
One final note: She loved music. She was a self-taught pianist and could play anything by ear. Three days before she died, with her mind and body failing, she sat at the keyboard one final time and played 49 songs from heart. And what a heart it was.
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