Sherry Lynn Grange Christensen's Obituary
Sherry Lynn Grange Christensen
1972 – 2022
Sherry Lynn Grange Christensen, beloved Wife, Mother, Daughter, Sister, Aunt and friend passed away peacefully on the 7th of October 2022 at 3:15pm surrounded by her family. Sherry battled Acute Myeloid Leukemia for the past nine years going thru 2 bone marrow transplants and a donor lymphocyte infusion. In February 2022 she relapsed again and tried to go thru another bone marrow transplant, but her body was not strong enough. She would have been the first to go thru a third transplant in the state of Utah, that’s how strong willed she is and how hard she has fought thru this battle. Sherry was preceded in death by her Mother Carolyn Grange, brother Baby Joe Grange, her mother and father-in-law Nancy Reed and Sidney Mack, her Niece April Halstead and her sister-in-law Patty Dunyon. She is survived by her husband Kelly Lee Christensen, children Joshua Quinn Christensen, Jordan Lee Christensen, Joel Adam Christensen and Jadon Riley Christensen. Father Joseph and Mary Jane Grange, Brothers Richard and Mindy Grange, David and Linda Grange, and Jeffry Grange. Sisters Cheryl Grange, Cindy Coker and Debbie and Jim Barnes, brother in-laws David and Faulyn Christensen, Monty and Toni Reed along with several Nieces, Nephews, Cousins and other family members.
Sherry loved her family and loved spending time with them doing all sorts of things but especially camping and playing games. During the last several months of her life, her children rearranged their schedules so they could spend one night a week with her as a family playing games, watching movies or just talking. She loved spending time in Idaho Falls and going to the farmers market there. She loved going on road trips especially when we did not plan it in advance and just let the car go where it wanted. She had her favorites, Mirror Lake Highway, Goblin Valley, Craters of the moon, Arches and Zions National parks. Sherry like doing crafty things like crochet and made each of her children and spouse ugly blankets. She made several strip quilts and some circle blankets as well. Sherry loved her family, but she also loved others and did not take kindly when she heard someone say something mean about someone else, though when she was younger, she might have done some of that herself. Sherry loved children especially and was an advocate for them. She loved to help keep the kids occupied with crafty learning activities, especially with her nieces Abby and Anna. She also had the patience to help them understand different circumstances and why it might not be right to do certain things. It was a rare occasion when she did not have a smile on her face and could lighten a room when she walked in with it. She learned from her boss and mentor the opposite was also true if she had a not so pleasant demeanor on her face, she could also affect the room in the opposite way so tried to always stay positive. She also loved cooking and finding new recipes to try, especially when they were authentic. Pinterest was like her best friend, and she found many recipes on there. Everyone especially liked her Chili. The recipe came from her grandma and was an insert in the gas bill. Her fudge was also a hit with many. Her children took it further making all different kinds. Her favorites were the cherry chocolate, macadamia nut and rum raisin. Towards the end, she enjoyed many vegan and vegetarian dishes as well and liked to try and stick with a Mediterranean style diet.
Sherry is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and until she got sick served in many callings. She was very nervous but grew to love each of the callings and loved getting to know the people she served with making lifelong friends with many of them. She was an inspiration to many people but especially to her husband Kelly. Kelly and Sherry were sealed for eternity in the Atlanta Georgia temple. She also loved serving the people but did not like others to give her recognition for the things she did. She always said she would get her recognition later. Sherry was a very selfless person who genuinely loved people, animals and nature. She loved visiting other people when she could and going to the temple. She loved family history and when she could not go any more still found names for others to take to the temple.
Sherry worked several jobs in daycare and fast food then found a career at Merit Medical systems. She started as an operator I then thru hard work moved up to a supervisor position and finally a lean leader before she could no longer work due to the cancer in 2019. When a team lead and a supervisor, she enjoyed making little trinkets for her employees on Christmas and/or putting together candy baskets on Halloween which was one of her favorite holidays. Merit was a great work environment, and she met many friends there. They let her come back to work after the first and second transplant and had she been able to they would have let her return after the DLI. They also supported Kelly with the time off needed or the work from home needed to properly care for her when needed.
Sherry’s family extended beyond blood and marriage and included many people from her kids friends, her coworkers, and the staff who cared for her at LDS hospital. Throughout the last nine years, the staff at East 8 and the Loveland clinic have worked vigilantly to keep her healthy and comfortable, especially every time she had an unusual or rare side effect which seemed to happen with every medication and treatment she had. We teased the staff at the end that Sherry was the GOAT for East 8. Sherry has so many people who have and continue to love her and her family. We can only hope that through our actions a small portion of that love and kindness has been returned.
Sherry wanted people to remember the good times, so we have arranged catering some Chinese food for a luncheon prior to the viewing and services which everyone is invited to. Services will be as follows:
Thursday the 13th of October from 6 – 8 pm will be a viewing in the Relief Society room for those wishing to and cannot attend Friday’s. The church building on 8181 West Breeze Drive, Magna Utah.
Friday the 14th of October. The church building on 8181 West Breeze Drive, Magna Utah.
11am luncheon for anyone who can make it at this time. Soft music that Sherry liked and a screen with photos to remember her will be going.
12pm – 12:45pm viewing in the Relief society room. Then family prayer and closing of casket.
1pm – about 2pm funeral services in Chapel.
Graveside services will start between2:30 and 3pm at Elysian Burial Gardens located at 1075 E 4560 S SLC, UT
What’s your fondest memory of Sherry?
What’s a lesson you learned from Sherry?
Share a story where Sherry's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Sherry you’ll never forget.
How did Sherry make you smile?
