Sherry May Shanks

Sherry May (Chaney) Shanks,77, died Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, at Kalispell Regional Hospital.

All are invited to the viewing, which will be held at Buffalo Hills Funeral Home in Kalispell on Friday, Oct. 11, from 2 to 7 p.m. Funeral proceedings will start at Calvary Lutheran Church in Kalispell at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, with burial at Glacier Memorial Gardens. Please join us for a celebration of her life to be held at the church following interment.

She was born on Sept. 20, 1936, in Wolf Point, Mont., to William “Everett” and Iona Chaney. After graduating from Wolf Point High School, she stayed in Wolf Point working as a waitress when she met her husband to be, Norman Shanks. Together they had five children. They later moved to Glasgow, which was home for many years. There she started working as a grocery clerk for Buttrey Foods while being a full-time mom. In 1975, she and the entire family moved to Kalispell where she and Norman became partners in Artic Meats as she continued working for Buttrey Foods.

Throughout her life she had a never-ending passion for her children – Saturday night hockey, camping in the great outdoors of Montana, and for those who had a chance to fish with her, they were always out fished when she sang her famous song, “Fishy, fishy in the brook, come and bite my little hook.”

Sundays were best known for homemade fried chicken with Walt Disney and Mutual of Omaha. She had friends everywhere she went. She also enjoyed playing cards, cooking and baking from scratch her favorite squaw bread.

During her 36-year tenure with the grocery chain, she was coined with the name “The Buttrey Lady,” and finally retired in 1996. She then spent the years enjoying time with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Norman Shanks; one sister, Shirley Flynn; three brothers,Sam Chaney, Don Chaney and Everett Chaney Jr.; and one daughter-in-law, Terrina Shanks.

Survivors include one brother, Tom Chaney, and his wife, Pat; two daughters, Dana Martin and her husband, Terry, and Lisa Albrecht and her husband, Jeff; three sons, Danny Shanks and his wife, Cheryl, Dean Shanks and his wife, Denise, and Rob Shanks and his wife, Karen; two step-sons, Donald Hustad and David Hustad; and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.