[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 74 (Thursday, May 15, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3065-S3066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       REMEMBERING SHERRY ADKINS

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I am grateful for this opportunity today 
to pay tribute to a truly extraordinary woman--Sherry Adkins. Sadly, 
Sherry passed away on May 13, 2014.
  I had the wonderful opportunity of working with Sherry for 37 years. 
She

[[Page S3066]]

first came to work with me as my legal secretary when I was in private 
practice as an attorney. When I took office, she began working in my 
Utah Senate office and brought the same dedication and hard work ethic 
she had displayed in a demanding legal office. Throughout our years of 
working together I was always so impressed with Sherry's utmost 
attention to detail and accuracy, and her keen mind and abilities. In 
fact, I still miss her taking dictation today. Her fingers could really 
fly, and she always got it right. It was a true talent that has sadly 
been lost in today's computer world.
  Sherry spent many years as a constituent service representative in my 
State office, helping hundreds if not thousands of Utahns with problems 
they faced while working with several Federal Government agencies. She 
specialized in helping people with cases involving such agencies as the 
Social Security Administration, the IRS, the Office of Personnel 
Management, OPM, and many others. She always displayed deep concern for 
the challenges people faced, and worked long and hard to help 
individuals in my behalf. In fact, she developed lasting friendships 
with some of the people she had assisted and they continued to visit 
her for many years.
  Sherry always went above and beyond the call of duty. While I was 
serving as the chairman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources 
Committee, which dealt in part with issues of alcohol prevention and 
treatment, Sherry and her husband Bruce obtained their drug counseling 
certificate. She spent many hours working with individuals struggling 
with the powers of addiction, and even became the choir director for 
the Utah Odyssey House, a residential substance abuse treatment 
facility. She touched many lives through her advocacy, support, and 
talents.
  As a former member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, she absolutely 
loved music. She always generously shared her talents not only as a 
beautiful singer--but she also played the organ weekly for her local 
ward or church congregation.
  Sherry's work and service was very important to her--but her family 
always came first. She absolutely loved her family. She was married to 
Bruce for 54 years, and they are the proud parents of Michael, Gary, 
and Marianne; and grandparents to four grand-children and four great-
grand-children. When it came time for Sherry to retire from the U.S. 
Senate, Sherry and Bruce moved to Alaska to be with their daughter and 
in the end were living in Colorado to be closer to their son and grand-
daughter. Sherry and Bruce had a great partnership and they were very 
supportive of each other and their endeavors.
  I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity I had to work with and 
know Sherry Adkins. Her loyalty, dedication, and sincere belief in 
public service were so appreciated. I wholeheartedly agree with the 
simple narrative another former staff member used when describing 
Sherry: ``She was a gem.''
  Elaine and I extend our deepest sympathies to Bruce and their family 
members. May they find peace and comfort in the cherished memories they 
have shared with this great lady.

                          ____________________