Sheryl Alley is remembered by her friends and family as being selfless and giving.
The accounting professor was close friends with Vicky Shipley, who teaches in Ball State University's accounting department.
"Sherry was a wonderful friend," Shipley said. "She and I worked together for three years, our offices were beside each other in the College of Business. People would always see us walking together from our offices to our classes."
Alley died Monday at the age of 57 after a brief battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with the worst of three types of thyroid cancer, which is incurable, in October 2008.
Cindy Van Alst, accounting department chair, said her students described Alley as a nice woman who could help with any problem she was presented with. Alley was always interested in her students and their success, she said.
Alley was born Sept. 7, 1951, in New Castle. She was a certified public accountant and had taught at Ball State since 1979. She was also a member of Habitat for Humanity and a director of the American Society of Women Accountants.
Her husband, Don Alley, said Sheryl Alley spent most of her free time listening to gospel music, clogging, going to church at Foursquare Gospel Church in New Castle or tending to people in need.
"She was a very, very giving person," Don Alley said. "She often visited people from church in the nursing homes. She was the caring type of lady. She never wanted to be a burden on anyone else."
Don and Sheryl Alley had two daughters, Cara and Heather. Sheryl and Don made a point through their marriage to attend many of the New Castle High School athletic events.
Mother Eileen Charlton said Sheryl Allen was always the organized one in the family, and people depended on her.
"She was always two steps ahead of all of us," Charlton said. "Just the other day, my son said that she had probably already investigated heaven to see who all was there."
Sheryl Alley is survived by husband Don Alley, mother Eileen Charlton, brothers Steven and Bill Charlton, sister Rosalie Earnest and daughter Heather Selph. She was preceded in death by her father, Richard Charlton, and daughter, Cara Smith.
Funeral services for Sheryl Alley are at 11 a.m. today at Hinsey-Brown Funeral Services in New Castle.
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