In Tribute: Shiray Berry stayed upbeat, brought smiles to others

The opening line on her obituary reads:

"Shiray Berry passed away at home on Sunday September 4th, 2022, finally defeating and murdering that villain cancer."

It sums up the attitude the 34-year-old Berry had toward the colorectal cancer that took her life.

It was her sense of humor, her contagious laugh, her determination to beat cancer and sharing her story online that her friends and followers remember.

"How do cows stay up to date? They read the moos-paper."

That's one of her jokes.

Friend and co-worker Jessica Turner said Berry loved having fun.

"Shiray and I hung out," Turner said. "We made dad jokes."

Turner and Berry took care of fiber service orders at Plateau Telecommunications.

Turner said Berry's favorite things were flowers and "pretty bright things."

"She was happy all the time," Turner said. "She loved gardening. Her favorite flower was any kind of lily."

Turner said there came a time when Berry went into what she called her "retirement" due to her illness.

"She devoted as much time as she could to her family, her dogs and her gardening," Turner said.

Turner remembers Berry's smiling face and contagious laugh. Turner called that laugh one of Berry's "signatures."

"And colorectal cancer awareness," Turner said. "Her goal was to beat cancer, whether it was into remission or needing to leave Earth knowing she fought the good fight. She wanted to make sure she was bigger and better than it was."

Turner will remember that Berry brought a lot of smiles to people even on her darkest days.

Mark Bass was another of Berry's co-workers.

"She was always smiling and upbeat in the face of the problems she was having," Bass said.

Bass said he found out Berry liked John Grisham books so he gave her his collection for the time when she went for chemotherapy treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz.

"She brought to light that colon cancer has no bounds when it comes to age," Bass said. "She was a positive energy for sure."

"It's hard for her not to be here anymore," said another friend and co-worker Lisa Costa. "I miss her sense of humor, her personality."

Costa and Berry attended Clovis' Lockwood Elementary School together.

As time went on they lost touch but when Costa came to work at Plateau in 2012 there was Berry.

"We used to have what we called our 'porch parties,'" Costa said. "We'd be out on her back porch spending time with her."

Costa admired Berry's strength and with that strength Berry was an inspiration to everyone.

"It didn't matter what she was going through," Costa said. "She was always so positive."

Costa also believes Berry's sense of humor "got her through it" when it came to her battle with cancer.

"She fought it hard here," Costa said. "So we don't feel like it beat her here. She beat it in the end."