Sharon Harrigill Strain

Reverend Sharon Kay Harrigill Strain, 77, of Pflugerville, passed away on February 3, 2023. Sherry was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on February 28, 1945, the first child of Gerald and Dorothy Harrigill. When she was still a child, her family moved to Corpus Christi, TX, where she graduated from Mary Carroll High School.

In 1970, Sherry married her beloved husband, Bill Strain, and jumped into the role of step-mother to his four children. Several years later, she pursued God’s calling, graduating from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and becoming an ordained United Methodist minister in 1985.

Sherry was a trailblazer, among the earliest female United Methodist ministers, and was the first female preacher to serve in most of her churches. Some of her congregants affectionately referred to her as “Brother Sherry,” and to her husband as “Sister Bill.”

Together, they spent over twenty-five years in several different churches, making life-long friends and memories in Bristow, Staples, Kingsbury, Austin, Johnson City, and Kerrville, as she exhorted her congregations to “listen for the Word of God.”

Even beyond her church families, Sherry built community everywhere she went, on many Walks to Emmaus, in summer camps, Vacation Bible Schools, trips to the Holy Land, and even as regulars at the restaurants that she and Bill frequented. She will undoubtedly be remembered for her larger-than-life personality, her thick Southern accent, but most of all, her deep love and kindness. She presided over countless weddings and funerals, even after her retirement from the ministry, sharing her generous spirit with families in their most joyous and sorrowful times.

Beyond her love of people and fellowship, Sherry held a warm place in her heart for animals. She felt a special kinship with St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, and she and Bill were never without a ragtag group of beloved and spoiled pets. She especially loved elephants, devoting a trip of a lifetime in 2012 to visiting an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.

Sherry is predeceased by her parents, Gerald and Dorothy Harrigill, and her husband, Bill Strain. She is survived by her brother, Richard (Pam) Harrigill, her sister Brenda (Paul) Erdmann, nephews Jay (Alicia) Harrigill, Greg (Audette) Harrigill, Kyle (Karen) Erdmann, Ryan (Evelyn) Erdmann, and eleven great-nieces and nephews. She is also survived by Bill’s children: Michael (Sylvia) Strain; Mark Strain; Lisa (Daniel) Sheppard, and James Strain; six granddaughters, Rachel Graham (Scott), Sandra Hicks; Ashley Strain; Sarah Strain, Hailey Strain (Eric Locklear); and Allison (Robert) Voelker, as well as ten great grandchildren. She will be remembered fondly by an extensive community of devoted friends, especially Edith Scott and Janet Mcauliff.

A celebration of Sherry’s life will be held at 11am on March 25, 2023 at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 601 W. Braker Lane, Austin, Texas.

The family suggests that memorial contributions in memory of Sherry be made to the animal rescue organization of your choice or to Heifer International.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenfuneralhome.com for the Strain family.