Sheralyn "Sherry" Elizabeth Stratford (21 Sep 1953 - 23 May 2022)

In loving memory of Sheralyn "Sherry" Elizabeth Stratford who sadly passed away on 23rd May 2022, aged 68 years.

Sherry loved her animals and in her memory the family have asked that donations be made to either The Donkey Sanctuary, PETA or Nowzad, with link available on this page.

Flowers may also be sent c/o John Weir Funeral Directors, Chatham by 11am on the day of the funeral.

Sherry was born in Gillingham and Christened in Chatham Dockyard on-board the "HMS Corunna" using the ships bell as the font, (Sherry's dad was in the Navy and served on the Corunna). After her dad left the Navy the family moved to Hoo where Sherry grew up with her two brothers (Andy and Steve). Sherry attended the Hundred of Hoo school where she enjoyed athletics. After leaving school Sherry had several jobs one of which was working as a sales assistant in a shoe shop in London where she put a shoe on David Bowies foot (her claim to fame!), she also worked at GEC as a punch card opererator.
Around 1970 she married Terry Stratford, and in December 1972 she gave birth to Michael. Terry and Sherry divorced a couple of years later.
I met Sherry at the "Nags Head" pub in Rochester in 1976 after an introduction by a friend where Sherry said "Gonna buy me a drink". We carried on going out and moved in together about a year later. When Michael started school Sherry got a part-time job at FineFare supermarket as a checkout operator where she made quite a few friends some of which she still kept in contact with via Facebook. After FineFare she got a job at FU's where she became manageress and won a holiday to America where we visited SanFrancisco, Los Angeles, Hawaii and New York. After FU's closed she got a job at New Look as a manageress, she left New Look due to cutbacks and got a job at Black Horse bank in the Pentagon, Chatham. She got made redundant from Black Horse and went to college where she studied Travel and Tourism for two years, after passing all her exams she found there were no real opertunities in the travel sector locally so she got a job at the NatWest call center in Chatham where she stayed until her retirement.
Sherry loved her music and in the 1970's and 1980's we went to lots of concerts and festivals and saw Pink Floyd, David Bowie, The Beach Boys, Luther Vandross, UB40 and George Benson to name just a few.
She also loved her travel, visiting Iceland, France, Italy, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Gambia, Goa, Barcelona,USA and she had her trip of a lifetime - a South African Safari which she had longed for for years. Sadly this was her last holiday as she had some mobility issues.
Sherry loved her aminals and we have had dogs, cats, ducks, chickens and a pet sheep running around the garden. Sherry has donated to vaious animal charities for quite a few years.
I am sure she will be missed by all of you, just as Michael and I are missing her.
Lots of Love to Sherry from Michael and Steve.