A celebration of life for Sherry Kay Kelsay, 76, of North Bend will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, August 19 at the Coos Bay Masonic Temple, 295 N. 4th St. in Coos Bay.

Sherry passed away July 7, 2017 in North Bend, but her life’s journey began in Denver, Colo., Nov. 7, 1940.  She was born to James F. Brown and Treva L. (Rohrbaugh) Brown.

They named their restaurant the Sherry Kay Café after her, but World War II forced its closure and a temporary move to Calif. so her father could help build B-24 Liberator aircrafts. The family returned to the Colorado Rockies to live in Granby, Colo., then McCoy, Colo. where living on their ranch fostered a lifetime love of horses, rodeo, knitting, playing the accordion and reading. They eventually moved to Yampa, Colo., where Sherry graduated from Yampa Union High School in 1958. She knew as a child that she wanted to be a nurse and graduated from nurses training at Denver General Hospital in 1959 and worked at Longs Peak Osteopathic Hospital.

While she was in school, she met Ivan Kelsay at a dance and instantly knew she would dance with him for the rest of her life.  They married Jan. 31, 1960 at the First United Methodist Church in Longmont, Colo., and began 57 years together in a house they built together in Yampa.

Many years later, they moved the family to Longmont, Colo., and Sherry was a bookkeeper for the family business. In her spare time, she taught cake decorating and candy making, was a crafter with her sister and became a certified graphoanalyst along with her mother.

The family business brought moves to Rapid City, S.D. and Gillette, Wyo., but health concerns prompted a move to the milder climate in North Bend, where she enjoyed researching genealogy, watching the ships, whales and sunsets on the ocean and building another house that she filled with her carousel horses and everything Christmas. She resumed nursing for about 20 years at Dr. Nolan’s office and at the same time, instructed Lamaze classes at Bay Area Hospital. She retired after being an office manager for Coast Medical Lab.

Sherry was very active in many organizations and made lifelong friendships with others who shared her zeal for helping and caring. During youth, it was 4-H and The International Order of The Rainbow. In motherhood, she helped with Boy Scouts of America, DeMolay International, Girl Scouts of America and Job’s Daughters. As an adult, she belonged to Eastern Star, White Shrine and Amaranth.

She loved her family very much and is survived by her husband, Ivan; their sons, Michael and his wife, Kristy of Loveland, Colo., Alan and his wife, Francine of North Bend and Greg of Buffalo, Wyo.; their daughter, Debbie of North Bend; grandchildren, Phillip Kelsay, wife, Jennifer and children, Samantha, Aiden, Even, Daykotah, Evellyn and Aerrik, Sean Paltiel Kelsay, wife, Anne and children, Ally and Jeremiah, Rebekkah Kelsay, Lochlan Kelsay, Catherine Kelsay, Ashley Kelsay, Meriah Kelsay and Josephine Prouty; her two siblings, William Brown of Colorado Springs, Colo. and Peggy Kelsay and husband, Paul of Gillette, Wyo.

Memorial contributions can be made to Arago Court #31 Order of the Amaranth, c/o Kristie Horn, secretary, P.O. Box 3607, Coos Bay, Oreg. 97420 and earmarked for the Oregon Grand Court of Amaranth Diabetes Research fund, www.oramaranth.org.

Arrangements are under the care of Coos Bay Chapel, 541-267-3131.

Friends and family are encouraged to sign the online guestbook at www.coosbayareafunerals.com

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