BOX ELDER- Sheri Ann Hackley Lawrence, 54, Box Elder, SD, passed away Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at Rapid City Regional Hospital.
Sheri was born December 13, 1963, in Sidney, MT the second child of William and Betty (Zeller) Hackley.
Sheri grew up in the Cherry Creek community on the family farm till she moved to Sidney, MT in 4th grade with her mom and sisters. A year later she moved to Plentywood where she attended Plentywood Public School in Plentywood, MT and graduated high school in 1982. She participated in a summer exchange program and spent the summer in Germany after graduating from high school. She went on to attend National College of Business of Rapid City, to earn an Associate degree in Travel and Tourism. She lived with her mother Betty Whitehorse for the last 15 years in Box Elder.
She was a nanny for a while before going into the motel industry. She never had her own children but helped raise her nieces, Jasmine and Danielle Hackley. She rescued two dogs and they became her special “doggy” kids: Mercedes and Snooky.
She spent most of her life working as a night auditor in motels in the Rapid City area including The Radisson, Motel 6 where she left the light on for her friends and family and her present job at the Grand Gateway Hotel which she considered her family. She loved her extended family there.
She was a collector of Coca-Cola memorabilia, unicorns, white tigers, dragons, and mystical figures. She once said her Coca-Cola bears kept her warm in the winter because they insulated the wall. She was an avid computer game player and knew her way around computers. She helped many of her family and friends with their computers sometimes putting them together from scratch. She kept in touch with childhood friends from her Cherry Creek country school days like Jeanette (Sowle) Bounds and classmates like one of her best friends Kristy (Domier) Stadstad. Facebook kept her friendships alive and growing even though they were miles apart.
She is survived by: her mother, Betty Jane (Zeller) Whitehorse of Box Elder; her father, William Lawrence Hackley of Plentywood, MT; sisters, Diane Spoklie of Antelope, MT (Dena, Zane, and Mandi), Cynthia Hackley of Evansville, WY (Jasmine and Danielle); special friend L.J. Lobey; and special cousin, Jason Clemmer.