Sheri Elizabeth Bell Patterson passed this life at her home in Monroe, NY, on Sunday, July 28, 2024, after a very long struggle with a rare neural condition, corticobasal degeneration. Sheri was the loving spouse of Richard Patterson and mother of Katherine Helena Patterson, also of Monroe, NY.
A graduate of Notre Dame Academy High School on Staten Island and Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY, Sheri had a passion for the history of the American Revolutionary War era and in the late 1970s, she became a historical reenactor with the Brigade of the American Revolution, of which she became a lifelong member. Introduced by mutual friends at a Revolutionary War event to fellow member, Richard Patterson, in November of 1983, they were married on August 10, 1985. She gave birth to their daughter, Katherine Helena Patterson in 1990. For two decades Sheri worked in administration for the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District and at the Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley, NY. In recent years she was a regular volunteer at the food pantry and thrift shop at Monroe United Methodist Church.
Sheri was born August 4, 1959, to Robert Carvel Bell and Elaine Peterson Bell on Staten Island, New York. When Sheri and her younger sister, Jami, lost their parents at a young age, their paternal Aunt Shirley and Uncle Leonard McNamara took them in, and they became in every way sisters to their many McNamara cousins. In addition to Richard and Katherine, Sheri is survived by her sister Jami Merrick and cousins (adopted siblings) Dennis McNamara, Diane McNamara, Kevin McNamara, Barry McNamara, Kerry McNamara, and Lori DeStefano.
An avid gardener, Sheri spent as much time as she could outdoors, often digging up an endless array of rocks in order to plant everything from begonias and impatiens to roses and azaleas.
A ceaseless champion of all children and animals in need, through the years adopting numerous stray cats, her kindness was unending and spread liberally for all.
Widely agreed to be an angel, she ever sought to help anyone she met, however she could — from covering a few extra dollars on someone’s grocery bill to showering them with information on helpful local resources. Noticing many patrons at the food pantry inadequately dressed for the cold, she once crocheted several hundred caps and distributed them for free.
Wake: Thursday, August 1, 2024, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Smith, Seaman, & Quackenbush Funeral Home, 117 Maple Ave. East, Monroe, NY, 10950.
Funeral Mass: Friday, August 2, 2024, at 11 a.m. at St. Anastasia RC Church, 21 N Main St., Harriman, NY 10926, followed immediately by interment at the St. Anastasia Cemetery adjacent to the church.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests you make donations to Covenant House, covenanthouse.org (Sheri’s favorite charity), or to the PSP & CBD Foundation (Sheri suffered from CBD) at pspcbdfoundation.org.
Arrangements were by Smith, Seaman & Quackenbush, Inc. Funeral Homes, Monroe, New York. (845-782-8185 or ssqfuneralhome.com).