Barbara Cherie Flynn-Sheridan

Barbara “Barb” Cherie Flynn-Sheridan, 89, passed away peacefully on September 16, 2025, at her home in Portland, Oregon. Though her last months were filled with medical issues and difficulties, she never lost her quick wit.

Barbara was the third of nine children, born in Portland on August 13, 1936, to Barney and Millie (Lewis) Flynn.

She attended Our Lady of Sorrows school and graduated from St. Mary’s Academy, where she fostered a love for journalism and writing. In grade school, she was voted most likely to work at Meier & Franks. However, after high school, Barbara began working at the Catholic bookstore, then for her dad at the community water company.

Barbara dedicated her life to her family and years of service at Our Lady of Sorrows school and parish. She volunteered as a parent and parishioner throughout her life and was the school’s cook for 30 years, until its closing in 2007. Upon the school’s closing, she turned down other positions, stating that what she found most meaningful was providing hospitality for the funerals of her fellow parishioners and their families. She wanted to be available for this volunteer outreach rather than taking on a paid position.

In 1983, Barbara co-founded a soup kitchen. This outreach ministry provided warm Sunday meals to the homeless, single-parent families, the elderly, and the unemployed, often serving as many as 55 people every week. Her warm heart and spirit of hospitality were also evident in the countless receptions, baptisms, and funeral hospitalities she prepared, as well as the annual Girls’ Poly High School reunions she catered for 100s of graduates.

Her commitment to the parish went beyond funeral hospitality. It included countless hours of making and selling thousands of homemade jellies, jams, and pickled vegetables at the annual fall festival. She also prepared thousands of cinnamon rolls and countless dinners to support her parish in raising much-needed funds. For over 35 years, she baked 100s loaves of bread to be shared at fellow parishioners’ Thanksgiving tables.

Barbara’s generous and compassionate spirit was legendary. In 1979, during a major ice storm that left many without power, she went to the school kitchen and prepared a large batch of chili on the gas stoves, serving the meal to parishioners by candlelight. The parish presented her with the "Outstanding Service Award" in 1984.

In 2018, after over forty years of dedicated parish service through food and hospitality, her legacy of service was forever recognized when Fr. Ron Millican, then Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows, dedicated the parish kitchen to her name.

A lover of Thanksgiving, Barbara began renting the parish gym in 1986 to extend her holiday dinner to her large, extended family, a cherished tradition she continued until 2019.

If you knew Barbara, you knew that she was the mother of five children: Kevin, Kerry, Michelle, Lisa, and Jennifer. She was careful not to boast in front of her children, but her kids often heard from others about her pride and love as she retold stories and accomplishments of each of them.

Barbara was preceded in death by her parents, Barney and Millie Flynn; her son, Kevin Sheridan; her son-in-law, Tracy Keating; her brother, Tom Flynn; her brother-in-laws, David Basaraba and Harvey Hoyt; and her former husband, Thomas James “Jim” Sheridan.

Her surviving children will cherish her memory: Kerry Sheridan, Sr. Lisa Sheridan, Michelle Sheridan, and Jennifer Keating, along with her grandson, James (Heather), and her great-grandson, Kieran, and honorary granddaughter, Kaitlyn Stewart, as well as her siblings: Sr. Joan Flynn, Frances Martin, Anita Hoyt, Donna McCormick (Pat), Joy Basaraba, Julie McLeod (Dennis), and Daniel Flynn (Mary) and her caregiver Kristine Kelly.