Sheryl Gustafson
2012-06-06Sheryl D. Gustafson, 66, of Avon Park, Fla., formerly of Mayville, N.Y., died unexpectedly June 16, 2012, in Florida.
She was born Jan. 4, 1946, in Jamestown, N.Y., the daughter of the late William C. Dowd and Ruth Hurl Dowd. She was prede-ceased by her husband of 41 years, Richard Gustaf-son, whom she married Nov. 22, 1965. She is sur-vived by her daughters, Lori J. (Bill) Lisa of Fredonia, Lynda J. (Tony) Sheckles of Fennimore, Wis., Rebecca C. (Douglas) Bottomley of Fort Worth, Texas; and her son Lt. Cmdr. Richard C. (Glenda) Gustafson Jr. of Jackson-ville, Fla.; granddaughters, Megan (Jesse) Sawyer-Sythe of Middle-town, Conn., Aarika Ay-rault of Buford, Ga.; Lauren Ayrault of Ripley, Adrian-na Lisa of Fredonia, Kayla Sheckles of Fennimore, Wis., Emily Bottomley of Richland Hills, Texas; Stephanie Bottomley of Fort Worth, Texas, and Sofia Gustafson of Jack-sonville, Fla.; grandsons, Matthew Chapman of May-ville, Logan Sheckles of Fennimore, Wis., Andrew Bottomley of Fort Worth, Texas, Samuel Gustafson of Jacksonville, Fla.; step-granddaughters, Jackie Ayrault of Atlanta, Ga., Jes-sica Ayrault of Buford, Ga., and Amy Bottomley of Oshkosh, Wis.; step-grandsons, Dale and Bryan Bottomley of Osh-kosh, Wis.; great-gran-dchildren, Emma and Jacob Sawyer of Middletown, Conn, and Hayden, Cohen and Cameron Jones of Atlanta, Ga.; great-grandsons Collin Sloan of Richland Hills, Texas and Carter Bottom-ley of Oshkosh, Wis.; two sisters, Kim (Jack) Smith of Jamestown and Ruth Kear-ney of Panama and sister-in-law Diane Dowd of Tacoma, Wash.; brother in-law and sister in-law, Al and Joan Gustafson of Jamestown; sister in-law, JoAnn Appleton; and many nieces, nephews and friends.
She was preceded in death by her brother Willi-am C. Dowd in 2011 grand-daughter, Erin Elizabeth Ayrault in 1995, a step-grandson, Lawrence Vincent Ayrault in 2003 and grandson-in-law Stephen Sawyer in 2008.
Sheryl was a devoted mother and grandmother. Her many grandchildren af-fectionately called her "mema." As her family started to grow and move to various states she would call and sing songs over the phone to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, "You Are My Sunshine" and "I Love You A Bushel and A Peck" were some all-time favorites.
Sheryl, along with her husband, previously owned and operated Dick's Harbor House in Mayville, Four Seasons Family Restaurant in Westfield and Four Sea-sons Family Restaurant in Dunkirk. She also had been employed by MRC Bear-ings in Falconer as an ad-ministrative assistant. She had many interests over the years which included; sew-ing, bingo, bowling, genealogy and computers. She was a past member of the Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department, DAR, Geneal-ogy Society and The Red Hat Society. Sheryl was a very giving person and donated her secretarial ser-vices to these organiza-tions.
Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 22 at Freay Funeral Home in Mayville. The funeral service will be held Saturday June 23 at 2 p.m. at Freay Funeral Home
The Rev. Cathy Smith will officiate. Burial will be in the Mayville Cemetery.
Memorials can be made to the Gustafson family c/o Freay Funeral Home, 139 S. Erie St., Mayville, NY 14757 or a charity of one's choice.
Suzon and I went to school from Rogers on up. I remember that our 5th grade teacher, Mary Carlson a woman with strong opinions, told Sue that she was spelling her name wrong and was to spell it "susan" from that day on.!!! Her Mom, head of the PTA, had something to say about that ! Sue was a friend all thru my days in Jamestown.
tribute by Mary Ann AhlgrenI miss you my Facebook Friend !I know I thanked you for all the work you did on our reunion committee but I want to thank you again..I miss all our phone calls too. You were a very special person.
tribute by Jackie Jackson