Sheri A. Leri

Sheri Ann Leri, 60, of Tracy, CA. passed away on December 1, 2020 in the Rose Place Memory Care facility located in Stockton, CA after a multi-year battle with dementia.

Sheri was born at Eden Hospital in Castro Valley, CA on July 14, 1960. She graduated from Livermore High School in 1979.

She was married to Brion on June 18, 1983 at a small church in Livermore, CA; they were married for 37 years.

Sheri is survived by her husband, Brion Leri; her two children, Christa Leri and Michael Leri; her sister, Renee Clancy and her brother, Joseph Lamendola.

Sheri was preceded in death by her mother, Florence Lamendola; her father, Carmelo (Bill) Lamendola; and her brother Stephen Lamendola. She was taken much before her time in a particularly cruel year defined by loss and despair for many.

But her life was not defined by such relentless sorrow. Sheri was notorious for her boisterous laugh and love for talking to people, both of which were qualities that made her a well-respected librarian at Jefferson School during her tenure. Despite not being a voracious reader herself, she excelled at her job because she wanted to help her students grow and become better people. Determination and having an unconditional investment into each and every one of those kids more than made up for her lack of traditional librarian experience. 

Caring and wanting to bring joy to others came naturally to her and was most visible during holidays and special events. She never held back during Christmas and her childrens’ birthday parties as she did everything she could to make those days as special as possible. Sheri loved being a mother and these festivities were just some of the many times she demonstrated that love in a more extravagant way, complete with her signature confetti-heavy cards. There was never a thing as too much confetti to her.

While Sheri was usually concerned with helping others, she did make time for things she liked doing such as watching talk shows, visiting the beach, talking on the phone, dancing to her favorite music, and shopping for the best lineup of matching outfits that were coordinated from her nails all the way down to her shoes (and all other accessories in between). She enjoyed those hobbies for as long as she could before dementia unfairly robbed her of those simple pleasures; a wretched reality for the souls unfairly cursed with an indiscriminate disease like dementia.

Sheri should not be remembered only for the handful of difficult later years but should instead primarily be remembered for the many preceding decades where she did her best to be warm and loving to everyone in her life. Such instinctive kindheartedness is rare and is something this world could always use more of. And even though she has passed on from this world, the positive mark that she left on her family, friends, and everyone else around her will be everlasting.

Fry Memorial Chapel is honored to serve the Leri family. Services will be announced at a later date once the COVID restrictions and guidelines have be lifted.

An online guest book is available for condolences and special messages to the family.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Sheri A. Leri, please visit our floral store.