Merrick, Sherrill J. (Varley)

Sherrill “Sherry” (Varley) Merrick, 84, of Newington, beloved wife, mother, and grandmother died peacefully in hospice after battling severe lung disease on March 16, 2024 with family at her side. Sherry was the daughter of James L. Varley and H. Elizabeth Selbie of Hartford. She attended Hartford public schools graduating from Bulkeley High in 1957. She then worked at Travelers using her artistic talents until her marriage in 1960.

During her marriage she lived in Troy, NY, Hartford and then East Hartford, CT, Aspen Hill, MD, Huntsville, AL and finally in Newington, CT for the last 52 years. She was a very loving and dedicated mother raising her four children. When her youngest was 14, she began working in retail part-time at Westfarms Mall, which she did for 13 years. She quit when her daughter had her first child to allow her daughter to return to work. She helped to raise her daughter’s three children. Being a mother and grandmother was her calling in life. She did an outstanding job of it. She was rightly very proud of her children and grandchildren.

Sherry was very intelligent and witty. She probably could have been a standup comedian. Whenever she had an audience, she was “on” trying to amuse by making funny and often outrageous and politically incorrect remarks. She was the source of a great deal of laughter and happy memories.

She enjoyed vacationing at the shore which she did at Panama City Beach, FL and Misquamicut, RI while raising her children and often at Cape May, NJ with children and grandchildren in later years. She enjoyed traveling with her husband visiting Mexico twice and Europe many times, but she was not adventurous when it came to foreign menus and claimed to have eaten at Mcdonalds all over the world. In later years, The Hilton Resort in Aruba and La Playa in Naples, Fl were annual destinations.

She is survived by her husband of 63 years, James J. Merrick, of Newington, her son, James J. Merrick, Jr., of Stonington, CT, his wife, Catherine, their children, Mackenzie and Ian, her son Sean V. Merrick, of Ellington, CT, her son, Liam P. Merrick, of Annapolis, MD, his wife, Wendy, their children, Jacob and Kylie, and her daughter, Jamie J. Bartone, of Wethersfield, CT, her children, Griffin, Briley and Spencer. She will be missed by all.

We would like to express our gratitude to Hartford Healthcare at Home Hospice Care and the Hospital of Central Connecticut, C5 Unit, 100 Grand Street, New Britain, CT 06050 who provided very comforting hospice care to Sherry and her family. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Sherry’s name.

Relatives and friends are invited to call on Sunday, March 24th from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Duksa Family Funeral Homes at Newington Memorial, 20 Bonair Ave., Newington. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, March 25th at 10:00 a.m. directly at the Church of the Holy Spirit, 183 Church St. Newington. She will be laid to rest following the mass in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Hartford. Because Sherry was so vibrant and colorful, please wear your favorite color. To share a memory with her family, please visit us at www.duksa. net.