Sherry Linnette Haas

Sherry Linnette Haas, 62, of Norman, OK, went to be with her Lord and Savior on Friday, December 27, 2013. She is survived by her husband of 37 years, Anthony Haas, Norman, OK; son, Joshua Haas, and granddaughter Zoey Haas, Roff, OK; sister, Ginger Hewett, Pauls Valley, OK; brother, Greg Booth, De Soto, KS; and mother-in-law Molly Booth, Midwest City, OK. She was preceded in death by her parents Preston and Virginia Booth, and sister, Linda Sue Booth.

Sherry was born to parents Preston and Virginia in Red Oak, OK, on October 14, 1951. After earning her high school diploma from Wilburton, OK, in 1969, she attended Eastern Oklahoma State College, Wilburton, OK, and graduated two years later with an Associate Math degree prior to attending The University of Oklahoma. Sherry first enrolled in the astronomy program at OU before her love of geology and teaching kicked in. She graduated from OU in 1974 with a B.S. in Geology and taught 7th grade physical science at Whittier Middle School from 1974-1975. Sherry was accepted into graduate school at OU in 1975 and graduated in 1978 with M.S. in Geology. She taught as a graduate teaching assistant in physical geology labs and introduction to field geology (1975-1977) and worked as a graduate research assistant with the Oklahoma Geological Survey (1976) to finance her graduate studies. During this time, Sherry met future husband Tony Haas and they were married in 1976. After earning her graduate degree, she was hired by OU as an Instructor and Undergraduate Advisor where she taught Introductory Physical Geology, supervised graduate teaching assistants and advised 354 geology and geophysics undergraduate majors. At this time Sherry developed an effective educational curriculum for physical geology, historical geology and geomorphology.

In 1979, Sherry launched into a career as a production geologist with Gulf Oil Company’s Enhanced and Tertiary Recovery Group. She won a Special Bonus Award, awarded to only one person a year throughout the whole company, for her exceptional geological analysis of the Kentucky tar sands. But Sherry’s petroleum career was cut short with the birth of her son, Joshua, in 1982, and she decided to be a stay at home mom and raise her son.

Some years later while raising her son, Sherry entered into the OU’s graduate program again, working toward a Ph.D. program in the Geography Department from 1987 thorough 1989. Sherry reached the ABD level, “all but dissertation,” but had to abandon it due to job considerations. She worked in the Geography Department as both Graduate Teaching and Research Assistants, and as an Instructor; and taught physical geography and human geography, supervised lab instructors, led field trips to and guest lectured on the geology and geography of the Arbuckle and Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma. Sherry also developed effective teaching and educational curriculum for physical geography, human geography, world regional geography, remote sensing, and environmental science. Her dissertation topic proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of digitally processed satellite imagery for mineral and petroleum exploration.

After a brief time in Colorado working as a substitute teacher in the St. Vrain Valley School District (1990-1991), Sherry moved back to Oklahoma and accepted a position as Executive Coordinator and Senior Program Development Specialist with the NASA/Oklahoma Space Grant Consortium (OSGC) and Center for Aerospace Programs, respectively (1991-1992). She developed courses integrating geosciences for the proposed M.S. in Aerospace Education, and managed federal and state grants for educational programs for teacher training in aviation and aerospace themes.

Sherry accepted the position of Science Teacher at Lexington Publics Schools in 1994, and taught grades 6 through 12 science, math, and social studies for the next 19 years until her death. Sherry was recognized as Teacher of the Year for Lexington Junior High in 2011-2012. She was known as the hard teacher that students did not want to get, but they later came to realize that she had their best academic interests at heart.

During her time at Lexington Schools and beginning in 2003, Sherry worked part time weekends as Master Teacher for the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board (OERB), which are teachers experienced in the oil industry and earth science teaching other earth science teachers about the Oklahoma oil industry, and then they go back and teach it to their middle school students. Sherry was awarded a Governor’s Commendation in 2011, “for promoting outstanding dedication to educating Oklahoma teachers and students about the state’s oil and natural industry through the OERB’s one-of-a kind science and energy curricula.”

Sherry was a gifted seamstress, writer, and burgeoning digital scrapbooker. She loved taking family pictures and landscapes and creating digital scrapbook pages of their trips, special events, and most recently the birth and development of her first grandchild, Zoey. Plus she loved to collect rocks, mineral, and fossils with her husband…a lot…probably over a ton at last count! She also looked forward to singing in the choir every week while she attended Lexington First Baptist Church. Sherry will be greatly missed and was much loved by her family, friends and students, and according to her husband, Tony, she was the best wife, the best friend, and best Mom one could ever have in this life or the next.

But as much as Sherry loved her family, geology and teaching, and as proud as she was of all her accomplishments, she loved the Lord Jesus Christ, and her relationship with Him (that began when she was 9 years old), beyond anything else. Sherry said it best in the acknowledgments to her M.S. thesis (1978):

“Finally, I would like to give all glory, honor, and praise to the living God, who created this earth and set all forces in motion, so that we, as mere humans, could marvel at His creation and in our own way try to understand it.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 (KJV)”