Sheryl Sue Rodriguez-McCradic

Sheryl (Smith) Rodriguez-McCradic, aged 77, passed away peacefully at home, June 12, 2019. She was born June 10, 1942 to Orvil and Frances Tompkins in Fairfield, Iowa and moved to Phoenix in 1947 with her parents and younger sister Dixie. Sheryl attended many Phoenix elementary schools and graduated from Carl Hayden High School in 1960.

Sheryl’s kindness and compassion influenced the lives of her family and really anyone who she crossed paths with. That kindness made her very popular with the children of Village Vista Elementary in Phoenix.

As a teacher’s aide, Sheryl touched the lives of literally thousands of children in the Paradise Valley school system at Village Vista for 33 years, and one year at Indian Bend Elementary. She was a 3rd through 6th Special Ed Aide whose loving, patient approach to teaching children made a lasting difference in their lives. Her compassion didn’t end at the school bell—she was always welcoming them to class in the mornings and helping children to their busses and made sure they were safely picked up by their parents in the afternoons.

Sheryl loved dance all her life…dancing around the house as a teenager with her mom and sisters as they cleaned the house… and years later, met her second husband Andy while 1940s swing dancing. They spent 21 years together swing dancing as much as possible, traveling and having fun. In 2013 she was diagnosed with Dementia. For as long as she could, Sheryl continued to work and to swing dance and travel. But after six years of fighting the disease, Sheryl decided it was time to return to Heaven.

Sheryl is survived by her loving and devoted husband, Andy Rodriguez-McCradic. Sheryl is the dearly loved mother of son Vincent Smith and wife Cheri; daughter Sheri Ellard and husband Randy. She will forever love her grandchildren Joshua Ellard, Alyssa Ellard, Nickolas Smith, and Amanda Smith; sisters Dixie Johnson and Jody Tompkins; many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, and many friends. She was preceded in death by parents Orvil and Frances Tompkins, and first husband Ralph Smith.

Please join us for her Visitation at Shadow Mountain Mortuary, 2350 E. Greenway Road in Phoenix; from 4 to 8 pm with Rosary and Communion taking place at 7 pm. Sheryl's Celebration of Life will take place the next day, Tuesday, June 18th at Unity of Phoenix, 1500 E. Greenway Parkway in Phoenix at 10am. Procession and interment will immediately follow after at Phoenix Memorial Park, 200 W. Beardsley Road, Phoenix, AZ.