CUMBERLAND FORESIDE – Sherry lived life with a spirit of adventure, fearlessness, and creativity, which was obvious to everyone she encountered and part of every endeavor she undertook. Whether she was raising her family, teaching Spanish, plying the waters off coastal Maine, or scaling peaks in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Sherry was unconventional and imaginative in her approach.

Sherry believed it was important to support organizations and causes that made a difference in her community. She was a docent with the Portland Museum of Art, a Big Sister, and a volunteer for the Hurricane Island Outward Bound program.

She once said when perhaps lost, “I never turn back. There’s more than one way to reach our destination.” That sums up how she lived her life; with fierce determination, ever forward. She has reached her secret destination, and the road she travelled to get there was made more interesting by all who shared in her adventures and made memories with her.

To Sherry, the woman who believed you can do anything you want if you set your mind to it. Who said let’s do it! and really did it. Who was ready and off in a moment’s notice, always a friend in tow. Who saw new adventures on every horizon and said c’mon, let’s go! Sherry Miller Welch, to have known you is lucky. We will carry on your legacy and remember you in these ways –

At the helm of the Hookerman’s Prey in Penobscot Bay, island-hopping the Whites; on the back of a motorbike in Cuba; hiking in Pinkham Notch; jumping the cliffs of Costa Rica; exploring wine cellars in Bordeaux; at the summit of Chamonix; riding the Amtrak to Madison; sipping espresso in Paris; dipping a camp mug into a river for a drink; cutting perfect turns down a black diamond; playing tennis on clay courts in Natick; running with the bulls in Madrid; taking a walk at dusk at the Lake of the Clouds; swimming across the cove on a challenge; trekking across Maine; in Zsa-zsa with the sunroof open, Yoshi riding shotgun; playing black magic in aunt Polly’s; calling out pirate’s in the cove!; on the other side of a plate of wings; rooting for the underdog; bushwhacking a raspberry briar; cross-country skiing to a winter woods picnic in Jackson; bailing a skiff; holding hands with Halee at the Mooring; teaching Espanol and demanding to be called Senya; looking for buffalo in Big Sky; making friends on the wharf; Saturday morning breakfasts aboard the Rocinante at Diamond Cove; transplanting lilacs; ambushing guests with water guns; banging a drum in Taos; reading in the tack room after riding dressage; skinny dipping at the Boom; choosing linens at a street market in Provence; hitchhiking in Spain; cruising to MDI on the Mah Jongg; chopping vegetables for Mongolian hot pot; repurposing an antique into a garden sculpture; sketching in a journal; hosting a party; playing cribbage for foot rubs; kayaking Casco Bay; licking an ice cream.

Sherry Miller Welch – adventurer, traveler, teacher, creator of opportunity, mother, partner, friend, free spirit. Oct. 11, 1947 – Feb. 17, 2021.

Sherry’s legacy is carried on by her partner, Kathy; her children, Mali and Seth; extended family, and so many friends. An outdoor, seaside celebration of life is being planned for this spring in Portland, Maine.



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