Mary Sharon (Slominski) Cyrus-Geurtsen 2/25/1939 – 4/8/2016

Born in Milwaukee, WI to Edward & Lola (Morrical) Slominski

Some people called her Mary and some called her Sharon but she answered to both. It really depends on what era you knew her at.

Mary Sharon was the eldest of 4 and helped take care of her siblings. She loved art, was very talented, spent many hours painting and could replicate just about anything.

Mary Sharon graduated from Riverside High in 1957. She went to work making beer cases by day at Cornell and was a waitress at Kosta’s Greek Restaurant by night. She really enjoyed that!

She gave birth to her one and only son, Don- in 1959 and the adventure started.

In the 1960’s Mary Sharon was part of the Cyrus family race team. While supporting her son riding motorcycles (Cross Country MX) she raced Dragsters, drove in the demolition derby and later raced Go-Carts, all over the country. She also liked to go joyriding on motorcycles.

Mary Sharon loved an adventure and was a fighter. Her focus changed and became a private detective. She made many friends at the Milwaukee Police Dept. Then she moved on to Kohl’s Department Stores as a store detective. This was a promising career. She was credited for many innovations in her job and rose to the top in her field. She retired from Kohl’s after 25 yrs.

In 1978 Mary Sharon flew over to Germany to be at her son’s wedding. She quickly realized something was a miss with the plans. Her son was in the military and his commanding officer wouldn’t sign the papers. She traveled up the channels to the Full-Bird Coronal and got the papers sign. The wedding went on as planned and she accompanied her son & daughter-in-law on the honeymoon traveling through Europe.

In 1984 She met the Love of her Life~ Jerry. Their hearts connected and they were married Sept 19, 1987. While married they loved to travel and spend time with friends & family. After retirement, they continued to travel. She loved to fish, go out on the boat, see the country and enjoyed local music scenes. If family was around, the more she enjoyed it!

But… there was one thing missing…

In late 2000, she got a call that she was going to be a Grandma! This was the news she had been waiting for! The house was sold in Milwaukee; they moved into their travel trailer, parked behind the barn at Don’s and was there to greet her new grandson into the world. He was Grandma’s little Butterfly. Now they are living in a beautiful, peaceful part of Wisconsin~ Soldiers Grove~ nestled in a valley of the Driftless region.  This Culture Shock was a good & welcomed one.

In her later years, Mary Sharon started a new job in the bakery at Village Market grocery store. She got in touch with her artistic abilities again by decorating cakes. She was eager to learn, went to classes and it became a true reality. At the same time working, she saw that foods were being thrown away instead of donated to local food pantries. She promptly got involved and made deliveries to the food pantry.

She also became a volunteer at the food pantry. Not just one, but two different pantries. Mary Sharon’s health started to get in the way. She had a historic back surgery that is in the medical journals and limited her working ability. This prompted her to decorate cakes at home and made a small sideline business of it. This made her very happy. She also donated creative baked goods to North Crawford School and other local fundraising events.

Mary Sharon or now known as Grandma, was very present, supporting her grandson in his growth. What’s better than watching your grandson grow up to be a fine young man? She loved to surprise him with tokens of her affection and was always proud of her Grandson!

Again her health got in her way, and she never recovered from a surgery. Her last years here on Earth were spent loving and being cared for by her wonderful husband Jerry.

She will be missed by her surviving husband- Jerry Geurtsen, Son- Donald Cyrus, Daughter-in- Law- Bridget Cyrus, Grandson- Delson Cyrus, Brother- Edward Slominski, other close family members as well as a number of nieces & nephews who she fiercely adored.

Those who preceded her in death are her Brother- Ronnie Slominski, Sister- Sandra Rader, her parents Edward & Lola Slominski and ex-husband Dennis Cyrus.

In lieu of flowers Mary Sharon would like a donation made to your local food pantry.