Sherridan Layne Elliott Baxter passed away peacefully at her home on Sherry Lane just east of Sulphur Springs with family near.
She was born June 17, 1936, in Sulphur Springs, Texas, where she lived her entire life on property that her family has occupied since just after the Civil War. She was married in her family’s living room to Max “Poss” Baxter from Brashear, Texas, on June 1, 1957. After her graduation from SSHS, she completed her Bachelor’s Degree from ETSTC in 3 years. When she was a young mother, she belonged to the Mother’s
Culture Club, and she was a lifelong member of First United Methodist Church.
She was the amazing mother to Kimberle Baxter, David Baxter, and Darrell Baxter; grandmother to Daniel and Adam (Amanda) Baxter, and great grandmother to Kolton, Ryder, River, and Kaise Baxter.
Sherry could do anything well…and often did. She could milk cows, cook like a chef, build fence, cut grass, design and sew formals, put Christmas lights on anything that didn’t move, design and build a float, shred her pasture, cut trees and plant trees, paint her house, and be a girl scout den mother. These and many more were the jobs for which she didn’t get paid.
But she did have a number of paying jobs over the years: selling tickets at Carnation, Mission, and Hi-Vue Drive-in movie theaters, working at front counter of the Daily News Telegram, and jack-of-all- trades in the offices of Sulphur Springs Livestock Auction, Jones Livestock, and other area auctions. Her principal job, however, was to provide a comfortable home for her 3 children and her husband. For the greater part of 45 years, she cared for Poss, who had progressive Multiple Sclerosis, rendering him a quadriplegic for his last 20 years.
Those who are left to appreciate her love and talents are her children; her sister, Annada Elliott Jones and husband James Jones; and sister-in-law, Rickie Carpenter Elliott and sons Trey Elliott and Joel Elliott. She treasured her Baxter in-laws and thoroughly enjoyed providing a location for the Baxter family reunion for many years.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Max “Poss” Baxter; parents, Bill and Marguerite Gilbert Elliott; brother, Billy Sam Elliott; infant son, Gilbert Morris Baxter; and her parents-in-law, Vera and Frank Baxter.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, July 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. at West Oaks Funeral
Home.
