Sheryl Epperson

Sheryl Cooke Epperson LUBBOCK- Sheryl Epperson passed away on July 30, 2013 in Lubbock, Texas after a hard-fought battle with renal-cell carcinoma, which spread in less than two years to her lungs, liver and bones. Sheryl was born on Sept. 19, 1948 to the late A.S. Dick and Inetha Henderson Cooke in Levelland, Texas. Her first years were spent at Fairview Baptist Church, where all the kids were raised by the village and she came to know Jesus at a young age. She attended Levelland schools and graduated from high school in 1966, at the age of 17. She attended one year of college in Portsmouth, Va. In 1967, she married Ernest Hensley, Jr. of Levelland and they moved to Grand Fords AFB, N.D., where their daughter, Lisabeth Kay, was born, and then moved to Crookston, Minn., where their second daughter, Ronni Jean, was born. In 1973 they moved to Lubbock. They divorced in 1989 and he passed away in 2007. In 1990, Sheryl ran into an old friend, Tommy Epperson, at a high school reunion and they quickly knew that what they had was magic. They marred at the Rose Garden in Lubbock on Sept. 29, 1990 and had a beautiful life until his death on July 31, 2004. Sheryl and Tommy were members of LakeRidge Baptist Church in Lubbock. Sheryl held several jobs in Lubbock but worked mostly at Texas Tech University, retiring in 2009. She loved retirement and enjoyed raising her grandson, playing with her dogs, traveling, especially to see her far-away grandchildren, photography, reading, and most of all, fishing at her uncle's pond in Hockley County. She always looked forward to getting together with family, whether in Texas or Virginia, and regretted not seeing them more often. She loved having lots of aunts and uncles who blessed her and her sister with a total of 16 cousins in Virginia and 13 in Texas (12 of whom were boys!). She always felt like she had an ideal childhood and a very blessed life. Cancer was just a bump in the road. Survivors include her two daughters, Lisa and Ronni and her husband Scott; three very special grandchildren, Michael, Rachel and Ryan. Her grandson, Michael, has lived with her most of his 19 years and has shared good times and bad times. She also leaves the best big sister in the world, Sandra Cameron of Lubbock, who has been a devoted and tireless caregiver during the past two years. Of course, she was also survived by aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews, as well as a host of friends, many from childhood. Sheryl requested that, in lieu of spending money on flowers, you support a charity of your choice, or you may support Sheryl's favorite charity, Reilly's Ranch of Abernathy, Texas, a horse rescue and rehab operation, www.reillysranch.com, or the Sheryl Cooke Epperson Endowed Scholarship at Texas Tech University, (866)448-3888, give2tech@ttu.edu, established by her good friend, Alice V. White, Ph.D. Sheryl has donated her body to the Texas Tech University School of Medicine. There will not be a funeral at this time.