Sherrie Lee (Isom) McCrady came into this world on August 30, 1934, in Dallas, Texas as the beloved only child of an entire generation of her family – she grew up surrounded by doting adults on both sides. She went home to be with her Lord and Savior on February 15, 2025, in Houston, Texas. She loved life and fought valiantly to stay here, but once she saw Glory, she just had to go. Sherrie will be laid to rest in Garland, Texas alongside her devoted parents.

Sherrie was preceded in death by her parents, Alva and Nattie Mae Isom, former husband and father of her children, Kenneth McCrady, Sr., son-in-law, Jimmie Dean, great-great-grandson, Waylon Justin Paul Holifield, and her beloved dogs, Sadie and Molly, as well as many friends.

Sherrie is survived by her children: son, Ken McCrady, Jr., daughters, Kim Dean and Dr. Kay Lynn Hastings, favorite son-in-law, Dr. Jim Hastings; her grandchildren: Kerry Holifield (Paul), Korey McCrady, Kolby McCrady (Brittany), Mary Beth Ort (Rusty), Kyle Dean, Hannah Henderson (Justin), Madison Hastings; great-grandchildren: Kevin (Cinzee) and Abigail Fritzsche, Matthew Holifield (Kailey), Kaycee, Kaleb, Kody and Kellan McCrady, Merik, Gabbi and Teagan Kretzmeier, Riley and Ryan Ort; great great-grandchild: Riley Fritzsche, and another due around Sherrie's birthday this year; brother-in-law, Dr. Bill McCrady (Ellen); special friends: Carol Bouldin McCrady, Sherry Cepak, Chris Fritzsche, Shirley Bailey, Dolly Casner, Jennie Choate-Crowther (Frank), Gary Choate; and devoted caregivers: Nita Beard and Roberta Warren.

Sherrie spent her formative years in Dallas, where she was very smart. In elementary school she represented her school as a contestant on the national "Quiz Kids" radio show. She was precocious and beautiful, with long blond Shirley Temple curls that she was so proud of. She graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1951 at just sixteen years old. She went on to graduate from North Texas State College in 1954, where she met Kenneth McCrady, whom she would marry soon after graduating. They raised three children together in the Lake Highlands area of Dallas.

Sherrie relished her roles as den mother to Kenny's Cub Scouts, "dance mom" for her girls, classroom helper, party hostess, executive wife, and her favorite role of just being mom. She always loved fashionable clothes and shoes and accessories. Growing up without much money, she wore mostly homemade clothes, even beautiful satin sheath dresses in every color that her mother crafted for those early company parties. That frugal upbringing made Sherrie really appreciate the finer things in life. Pink was her favorite color, and she was able to surround herself by all the finest pink things that made her happiest for many years. She loved to read, and she had a special reading nook in her closet, with her chair surrounded by her favorite inspirational books, especially anything by Helen Steiner Rice, as well as many novels. Whenever she was troubled, she could be found in her prayer closet reading little devotional booklets by Drs. Charles Redmond and Jon Redmond from First Baptist Church in Pasadena, Texas.

As her children grew up and left home, Sherrie rekindled her passion for education which she developed during her student teaching days in college and went to work assisting special needs children in schools. She loved those kids and still mentioned many of them by name, along with their antics. Her memory was stellar! Her memoirs are full of phone numbers, addresses, prices of things, grades she received (including how the grading systems changed over the years), outfits she wore on special occasions, and all sorts of things that are unimaginable to be able to recall after so long.

When Kenny began having children of his own in the 1980's, she found her true calling as Memaw. She coddled them at first and then became their favorite buddy. She took them everywhere – movies, parks, shopping (her favorite), arcades with pizza, live shows and sometimes just driving around (also a lifetime treasured activity of Sherrie's). By this time, she was living in Garland, next door to her mother who passed away in 1998. The grandkids loved going to Memaw's. She adored them. Sherrie was a child at heart – the fun grandmother. She had quite an extensive collection of dolls and loved playing children's games.

Once Kim and Kay Lynn started their families in the late 1990's, and both were living in Houston, Sherrie decided to leave Garland and move to Houston in 2000 to spoil the new grandkids. Now she was Mimi. She also began volunteering at the preschool Kay Lynn had established in Houston. Her greatest joy in life was interacting with children, so she was living her best life! Her favorite activities involved reprising her "dance mom" role, only this time as a doting grandmother, while Madison performed in ballroom dance extravaganzas.

While she was growing up, Sherrie's family didn't travel much, except back and forth to Oklahoma to see relatives. Travel was something that she longed for her whole life, and she finally got to have some wonderful travel experiences with her adult children and grandchildren. She accompanied them to Washington D.C., New York City, Niagara Falls, Atlanta, the Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, Canada and England. However, her favorite trips were always returning to the Dallas area to visit the grandchildren and old friends and see all the changes to her old stomping grounds.

Living near Kay Lynn and Jim, Madison, Kim and Kyle, was a blessing that Sherrie never stopped being grateful for during her later years. She felt safe and well cared for. She enjoyed occasional bus trips with Kim's church groups as well as weekly Sunday outings with Kim and Kyle for brunch and farmer's market shopping excursions. Sherrie kept her wonderful caregivers quite busy during the weeks with outings galore. Kay Lynn and Jim, being the primary caregivers for many years, entertained her regularly with meals, drives, movies and mall visits. Her all-time favorite movie was "Gone With The Wind", which had to be watched, as well as recorded, every time it came on TV.

Sherrie's last big trip was in 2023 when her youngest granddaughter, Hannah, got married in Waco. Traveling was difficult for her, but she was so thrilled to be able to make the trip, especially because she stayed at Kenny's newly completed ranch house near Waco.

All of Sherrie's descendants came to see her for her 89th birthday that same year, and she was able to hold her first great-great-grandchild for a five-generation photo with her son's family. For her 90th birthday last year, her children had a wonderful celebration that included dining at an elegant restaurant and a live theatre performance. Sherrie loved it all.

Sherrie spent her last few years penning her memoirs, her life story, which was mostly complete when she died; so, her cherished offspring have that precious gift from her forever, along with a recording of her reading parts of it. Her favorite pastime was picking out perfect greeting cards for everyone and every occasion. She included favorite photos and personal notes whenever she could. Even as her writing abilities were failing, she scribbled notes to be typed by her daughters for her to mail. She never forgot a birthday or holiday. And she loved to celebrate them all! Sherrie was extraordinarily generous to everyone - with her time, her possessions and her talents. She expressed her love mostly through actions and gifts rather than words. She knew all the names and personal details of many of the individuals she interacted with regularly, even at the grocery store and drive-through lanes.

She had many roles and titles: Sherrie, daughter, Mom, mother, Memaw, grandmother, Mimi - and she filled them all well. She loved life, and she was full of life. She loved being surrounded by family, and she loved all the people in her life. She smiled so big, with those sparkling blue eyes, and she loved to laugh and dance and sing. Sherrie especially loved to GO – anywhere, anytime, she was ready! This time she surprised us when she left without us.

We miss her presence in our lives. but now she's with God and so many loved ones who have gone before. A lifetime of memories is the enduring gift that she gave us. The family will be forever grateful for the loving care provided to Sherrie these past few years by her caregivers, Nita Beard and Roberta Warren. Sherrie lived her ninety plus years to the very fullest. She got to experience most everything that she wanted to, and she found great joy in it all. We are grateful that we got to keep her here with us for so long, and that she was mentally and physically strong until the very end.

What Sherrie would want most for each of us who knew and loved her would be to remember her laughing and smiling and enjoying life to the fullest, and to honor her legacy by loving each other as fervently as she loved each of us.