Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Sherrie Brewington died May 1, 2020 after succumbing to colon cancer. She was 69.

Brewington was born on April 14, 1950 in Sacramento, California.

In her youth, Brewington was a pro stock racer, a type of drag racing. She raced a modified 1969 Nova and challenged other racers for their vehicles' titles in Reno, Nevada, son Scott Brewington said.

Brewington raised her son as a single mother until 1985 when she married Randy Brewington. The family moved to Haines from Wrangell in 1986, homesteading near the headwaters of the Chilkat River for nine years.

"For the first four years we only came out once a year for supplies," Scott said.

Randy died in 1994 and Sherrie and Scott moved to Mosquito Lake where she ran the Mosquito Lake Store until it closed. She later worked as a flagger on local highway projects.

"She was known for her cheerful smile and a kind heart," Scott said.

Brewington married Terrance Martell in 2003. They met on the Internet in an online cribbage game room. They chatted and played cards for two years before Martell traveled to Sitka, where Brewington was working at the time, on Sept. 11, 2001 just after the terrorist attack.

"I'll never forget that day I pulled into Sitka on the ferry. We always remembered it," Martell said. "I took her out to dinner. We went and watched the news for a while. I guess you could say it was love at first sight. It was great. I planned on staying."

They married two years later in Haines.

"She was just loveable, cheerful," Martell said. "She was a sweetheart. Anybody in town would tell you that."

Brewington was buried May 4 at Jones Point Cemetery.

A celebration of life will be planned once social distancing mandates end.

Brewington is survived by Scott, Martell, mother Yvonne Case and brother Bill Knecht.