Sheila Michelle Doherty

Sheila Michelle Doherty passed away May 17, 2015, joining her beloved father Thomas Doherty. Sheila was born on November 15, 1976, to Thomas and Mary (Maureen) (O'Malley) Doherty. She is survived by her mother, sisters Mary Kathleen, Aileen, and Bridget, brother Thomas (Tommy), sister-in-law Sandra, nephews Danny and Eamon, numerous cousins, aunts, uncles, dear friends and her well-loved dogs Sebastian and Pallavacini (Pali). Sheila was extraordinary. She wanted to be here, and bravely fought the immense challenges her body threw at her every step of the way. Her incomparable perspective of the world supported the special way she lived her life – she knew how to find the goodness in everybody, and championed that goodness to the people around her. Her observations were positive, sometimes ""shmoopy"", and always genuine. If you were lucky, you were given the rare and treasured opportunity to meet Sheila; a person with such an astonishing amount of strength and perseverance she constantly challenged the definition of the word ""insurmountable"". Although a warrior in life, her empathetic and sentimental soul was what others would see. She had such an amazing, remarkable, and sweet spirit that children and pets flocked to with unfiltered delight. If you were even luckier, you are among the distinctive group that befriended Sheila, and you had the unique opportunity to stand with somebody that had an outstanding spirit filled with a generosity that could not be contained, who would shoulder and ease the burdens for those she loved – even when personal hardships and pains interfered. If the stars aligned just right and you had had the greatest luck of all, you shared family ties to Sheila, either by blood or by honor. She was an amazing individual with magical qualities that quietly intensified the bonds she built within her family to such magnitude; outsiders were drawn in just to experience it, even fleetingly. Sheila's kindness and adoration for those she loved will live on in the hearts of those who loved her. They will be rewarded to continue her humor, her wisdom, her dedication, her grace, her exceptionally strong will, her deep-rooted pride and passion for family. As E.E.Cummings so aptly captured: ""here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or the mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)."" Our hummingbird – full of haste, anxiety, and sugar water, so many wishes were made and granted in your lifetime. One final wish for you – embrace your hard-earned, well deserved peace and contentment. Your laughter and contagious fortitude will be deeply rooted within all who loved you. We will be sad, we will miss her smile, we will miss her voice, but we will be OK thanks to the bonds Sheila cemented in her lifetime. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to pscpartners.org