SHERRI ROBERSON SAWYER

Sherri Roberson Sawyer, 57, passed away Thursday, July 8, 2010 after a valiant fight against cancer. Since the original diagnosis in 1992, she pummeled down breast cancer cells six times, rarely missed work and never waivered in her devotion as wife, mother, friend, and Market Manager for four Citadel Communications radio stations. Daughter of the late James and Earl Leane Roberson, she leaves behind husband, Fred J. ‘Skip’ Sawyer; son, Addison Breckenridge ‘Breck’ Sawyer, 30 of Memphis, and daughter, Collin Linville Sawyer, 28 of Dallas TX; maternal aunt, Della Bell; paternal uncle, T.J. Flowers and paternal aunt, Betty Ann Clifton. A highly lauded leader in the advertising and communications industry, she was recognized with the American Advertising Federation Silver Medal Award, served as President of AAF-Memphis, Governor of the 7th District-AAF and was recently inducted into the AAF-7th District Advertising Hall of Fame. On July 1, she was honored with a Brass Note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame. As the recipient of Memphis Cotton Carnival President’s Award for Industry, she was the first woman to receive the designation in the 100+-year award’s history. The native Memphian graduated cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from The University of Mississippi, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. Most of her professional career as a broadcast management executive was in Memphis. Since 2005 at radio stations, KIX106, -Gen-X-98.9, WRBO, and The MAX, she managed all station operations with 80 full-time employees including advertising sales and personalities like Young & Elder, Tom Prestigiacomo, Memphis Mark Billingsley, Kay Manley and Drake & Zeke. She was Vice President/General Manager of Memphis Clear Channel stations Rock103, WOTO-FM and WREC-AM from 1987-2001. In a four-year stint away from Memphis, she was Vice President/Market Manager with Clear Channel Radio in Raleigh NC and more recently with Radio One in Richmond VA. A member of Grace Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, she is a graduate of Overton High School. A strong advocate of community involvement on a business and personal level, Sherri worked in the Soup Kitchen, served as church Stewardship Chair, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Ronald McDonald House, Synergy, Church Vestry, Public Library, Center for Southern Folklore and was honorary Chair for Subsidium for the Memphis Oral School for the Deaf. Professionally, she served on the Board for Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, Methodist Healthcare Foundation, Leadership Memphis, and Memphis Music Commission. Past Board commitments include Rock N Soul Museum, Better Business Bureau, Virginia Association of Broadcasters, Virginia American Red Cross, and North Carolina Association of Broadcasters. She will be remembered by many friends and co-workers as a kind nurturer, motivator, and prominent expert in the broadcasting industry as well as a true inspiration and a reallife survivor. Visitation will be Monday, July 12 from 6-8 p.m. at Grace St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Trezevant Hall. A memorial service will be 11 a.m., Tuesday, July 13 at Grace Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, 1720 Peabody Avenue, Memphis TN, 38104. The family requests memorials be made to Grace St. Luke’s or The American Cancer Society, 1378 Union Avenue, Memphis TN 38104 Canale Funeral Directors (901)452-6400