The light grew a little dimmer in the world on the day that Genevieve Houlihan-Sherry passed unexpectedly at home. Genevieve was known for her big brown eyes that she would roll in humorous sarcasm, her light-hearted laugh, and her quick wit. She loved St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish–even naming her little Jack Russell Terrier, Danny Boy.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, the large family moved to Denver when Genevieve was eight. She grew up in the Congress Park neighborhood and attended Cathedral High School.
After high school, she entered the workforce and became a tax accountant in the oil business. She also kept books for several other small businesses through the years as well. She took pride in her career.
She and her husband, Jack Sherry, traveled, socialized with friends and family, and cheered for the Denver Broncos (in good years and not so good years). She enjoyed keeping up with Denver news, the restaurants that opened and closed, and listened to many Rockies Games on the radio–her preferred method of being a baseball fan. She attended quite a few home games, with her season tickets, as well.
In her later years as a single woman about town, she was generous with her time and thoughtfulness–especially with her nieces and nephews and even grand nieces and nephews. She brought smoked salmon tacos over when babies were born. She surprised them with front row baseball tickets, met them at the hippest wine bars, went downtown during lunch hour to eat a burger at a loud, inconvenient restaurant. For the new babies she bought them thoughtful Christmas ornaments and sent spontaneous cards in the mail that they would hang up in their bedrooms as they got older.
All the while, she wanted to talk about current events, the changing state of Denver and whatever the younger generation was working on.
She is survived by four sisters, Rosemary, Carol, Barbara, and Penny and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Eva Fienhold Houlihan, her beloved husband, Jack, her brothers, Kenley, Jerry and Joey and her sister, Patti.
A Memorial Service will be held at Horan & McConaty, 1091 S.Colorado Blvd. at 10:00 AM on October 18. Interment following at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
Donations in memory of Genevieve may be made to Rocky Mountain PBS at pbs.org/support or Rocky Mountain PBS, Buell Public Media Center, 2101 Arapahoe St., Denver, CO 80205