This is the space where Catch 66, Sherry McKibben’s column about aging, would normally have appeared. Instead, this month we are using the space to offer a tribute to Sherry’s life. Sherry died suddenly while on vacation in Mexico in late January, and many in the community and beyond are still filled with shock and sadness.

Sherry began writing Catch 66 in late 2010, and was also a block carrier for two routes for several years prior. Her well written, researched articles about the challenges of growing older were an appreciated addition to the paper. Her sense of passion for social justice came through in her writing very clearly.

At her memorial service on February 8, hundreds gathered to share stories about Sherry’s life, with lots of laughter and tears. Many people from the political world. non-profit organizations, and McCauley were there, of course.

Candas Jane Dorsey, a resident of Boyle Street and close friend of Sherry’s, has these words to share:

“Sherry McKibben’s life was dedicated to justice, honesty and kindness. In all the years I knew her, all the decades, she never failed to be intelligent, straightforward, and full of humour.

When I decided to run for city council last fall I asked her to be my campaign manager. “I don’t want to work that hard right now!” she said, grinning, but then she gave me advice, recycled signs from her previous campaigns, some money, and loads of practical volunteering – a big-hearted, whole-hearted commitment of her energy, which was so characteristic of her!

She would tackle big challenges confidently, master them, then move on to the next without showing off. It’s astonishing how many important social justice and community initiatives she had a hand in over her life. She embodied that universal virtue of “loving-kindness” in such a practical, intelligent, no-BS way, with a laugh attached.

I am glad that if she had to go, she left from a place she loved and from the side of the person she most loved, but I wish she’d stuck around for another 20 or 30 years instead. Everyone will miss her so.”

Everyone indeed will miss Sherry, including all of us here at Boyle McCauley News.