Sharon "Sherry" Ann Olander

HAWARDEN, IOWA ~ Sharon Ann “Sherry” Olander, 78, of Hawarden, passed away on Sunday, January 12, 2025, at Friendly Horizons in Sioux Center, Iowa.

 Funeral Service will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, January 18, 2025, at the United Methodist Church in Hawarden with Pastor Jon Moravec from Sunnybrook Community Church in Sioux City, Iowa officiating. Burial of the cremated remains will be at a later date in Grace Hill Cemetery in Hawarden and also in Maskell, Nebraska. Visitation with the family will be from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January the 17th at the Porter Funeral Home in Hawarden. Condolences may be sent to www.porterfuneralhomes.com.

 Sherry was born on December 2, 1946, in Hawarden, Iowa, the first child of Bernard and Betty (Harkness) Weyer. She grew up in Hawarden. She was baptized and confirmed at the Hawarden United Methodist Church. She graduated from West Sioux High School.

 Sherry married Harold Dowling of Akron, Iowa on June 2, 1965. To this union 3 children were born. The couple divorced in 1990. Sherry then married Joe Olander of Sioux City on February 12, 1999. They lived in Sioux City for 22 years before retiring to Hawarden in 2014. She worked 12 years at the Akron, Iowa Public Library, 9 years with a home medical company in Sioux City, and 19 ½ years at Siouxland Blood Bank also in Sioux City.

 She enjoyed cooking, baking, reading, fishing, and being a grandmother to 13 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

 Survivors include her husband, Joe; her children, Julie (Keith) Swenson of Sibley, Iowa, Matt (Julie) Dowling of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Sarah Liston (Rob Christiansen) of Ireton, Iowa; stepchildren, Jeff (Michelle) Olander of Yukon, Oklahoma and Amber (Chad) Meseck of Solon, Iowa; grandchildren, Korbin (Sabrina) Swenson and Erin (Jake) Robinson, Kyle (Jessica) Dowling and Kori (Hijke) Dowling, Tayler (David), Cali, and Carter Liston; great-grandchildren, Ariana Topete, Elaina Irizarry, Lailah and Mason Hobson, Harrison Dowling, and Lucy Nance; step grandchildren, Grant and Brenna Olander, Kayla and Chase Meseck, Abbagail (Carter) Nance, and Callen (Autumn) Agan; her siblings, Larry “Butch” (Sue) Weyer of Hawarden, Karon Smith of Flandreau, South Dakota, Kay (Dennis) Moller of Alcester, South Dakota, Scott Weyer of Phoenix, Arizona, and Mark (Pam) Weyer of Alcester, South Dakota.

 Sherry was preceded in death by her birth mother, Betty Weyer; father, Bernard Weyer; stepmother, Myra (Doty) Weyer; brother, Kevin Weyer; brothers-in-law, Gary Smith, Merrill Tanderup, and Barney Kuckta; sister-in-law, Therese Olander; and step granddaughter, Bailee Olander.