Sherri Honan Cassuto

1957 - 2016
Sherri Honan Cassuto finally agreed to let death take her the evening of April 29, 2016. She was surrounded by family, in her own home, in her own bed, having been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer almost 2 1/2 years before. That time had been spent pursuing every known alternative, trying to support her already incredible immune system in its epic battle.

Sherri was a true Renaissance woman: she was a marine biologist, scuba diver, twice an Olympian rower (1984 and 1988), took silver in a pair at the Worlds (1985), medaled in Canadian Nationals in a marathon canoe, took gold in the Maccabiah games in 1989 for Women's single sculling (the event had been created with her in mind), won outrigger canoe races, and placed first in many kayak and surf ski events, besides coaching, which she always was honored to be able to do. In the last few months, Sherri had a UW straight four (competitive rowing boat) named for her, as well as the LWRC Head of the Lake trophy for the Women's Masters Single. She won the Masters Single for her age category for several years in a row in the last decade, and took delight in being that woman "with tight graying curls, an iPod in her ears and black pogies on her hands." Racing in the Deception Pass Dash, she calculated everything: the water speed, the wind, the ebb, eddies, her bow angle, to ultimately take first in Women's Sea Kayaks division. In her early days, she was competitive in swimming, track, and even took 2nd as a World power lifter. Sherri raced sailboats as far back as in her youth, and was a finalist for the all women Americas Cup crew.

Sherri expressed herself creatively in music as an oboist (also playing flute, sax, clarinet and ukulele), and mastered the art of Hawaiian slack key guitar. She drew beautifully, painted with watercolors, carved wood, wrote and published, cooked, repaired and maintained her own home expertly. She bicycled, hiked and backpacked (as in, summited Mt Rainer – everything Sherri did was masterful!), fished, skied . . .

And, Sherri was a Certified Rolfer. Using that focused attention, and all the knowledge of anatomy and creativity at her disposal, she helped many people resolve debilitating body problems that had previously kept them from their own passions. Oh, and of course she mostly bicycled and kayaked to her office in Fremont for 25 years.

Sherri was loyal, honest, humble, passionate, loving, optimistic, hard working, brilliantly intelligent, and loved to laugh – intensely! She is survived by her siblings, mother, cousins, nephew and nieces, aunts and uncle, as well as her very many friends and communities of friends.

We miss her deeply.