Adaline "Sherry" Kearns

1935 - 2024

Adaline "Sherry" Kearns

February 14, 1935 - July 28, 2024

Some people are extraordinary. Extraordinary in spirit, in mind, in kindness, truthfulness, and love. Some are extraordinary despite what is expected and live their lives to the fullest as a model of courage and strength, exemplifying humility and wisdom. Adaline Sherwood "Sherry" Kearns was one of those extraordinary people. Entering her new life on July 28, 2024, at the age of 89, she left behind a legacy of outspokenness and courage as she acted against racism, supported indigenous peoples and their culture, advocated for respect of women, respected and expressed concern for the environment and animals, and loved her family including several cats she cared for in her earthly tenure. With an inquisitive intellect and probing mind, she read daily, keeping current with events and new thinking, never resting in anyone else's ideology.

Born in High Point, NC, on Valentine's Day, 1935, Sherry was an alumna of Stuart Hall Boarding School in Staunton, VA. She published several articles with substance and humor for schools and newspapers. She loved and competed in horseback competitions, traveled to parts of Europe as a member of the International Experimental Research Club, and celebrated her debut as well.

Continuing her extraordinary and full living, she graduated from Duke University majoring in French Literature in the mid-1950s beyond the expectations of young women at the time. She moved to Manhattan and began work as an administrative assistant, working with Eastern Airlines, allowing her to travel. In Manhattan, she married and started a family, moved to Basking Ridge, NJ, and continued life raising a family. Later on, she resided in Denville, NJ before moving to Richmond, VA to be closer to her daughter and later, her son.

Over the decades and into her final years, she did not become idle but continued to grow spiritually and intellectually, always meeting new people and new challenges. And she kept up with their birthdays and anniversaries, sending them cards every year, with a personal note. And always she expressed gratitude, giving a smile, even when feeling frail, to anyone. That warm, welcoming, and kind smile, expressing her love and extraordinary nature. Showing her appreciation for the people in her life, she liked to keep scrapbooks, reflecting her family history. She kept herself healthy, continuing to exercise daily and observed healthy eating habits as she aged. She respected herself, her kin, her country, the planet, her many friends, and others. Because she was extraordinary. Sherry was predeceased by her parents, Adalyn and Charles Kearns, her beloved sister Ann Kearns Brooks, her grandchild, Sophia Brugger, and her niece, Leslie Brooks. She is survived by her children, Adalyn S. "Addie" Brugger, E. Christian Brugger, Jr., daughter-in-law, Melissa Brugger, grandchildren, Rose Elvidge and her husband, Nathan, Christian A. Brugger, Mary Brugger, Edmund and Thomas Brugger and two great-grandchildren, Sophia and Johnny Elvidge. She is also survived by her sister, Kay Maynard, and niece, Katherine Hamilton, and nephews, David Maynard, Howard and Thurman Brooks, and Kurt Morscher. She is survived by a dear friend, David Irving, and good friends and caregivers, Diane and John Statton, Nellie Cunningham, and their other sisters, and many other friends. She will be remembered and appreciated by them all as an extraordinary person.

Visitors will be received on Wednesday, August 7th from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Monaghan Funeral Home, 7300 Creighton Parkway, Mechanicsville, Virginia 23111. All are welcome.