Sharilynne Boettcher

On May 23, 2024, Sharilynne Kay (Hamlin) Boettcher left this world on her own terms which was exactly how she lived her life. Shari was kind and generous – kind to most everyone and generous with her opinions. She was preceded in death by her husband of 48 years, Richard Arlyn Boettcher; her dog Cowboy; her son of 47 years, Erik Richard Boettcher; her mother of all of her years, Leota Pearl Hamlin; and her father James Hamlin, as well as siblings Dan Hamlin, Dana Grimes, and Jim Hamlin.

She is survived by her daughter Michelle Lea Boettcher (Leslie Lewis), and her youngest son, Kirk James Boettcher (Jared Saks). In her last phone conversation with Kirk, as Michelle held the phone, Shari said, "Kirk, you are my favorite." Michelle responded, "That stings a little, Mom." Shari smiled and said, "Wait until we hang up, and I'll tell you that you are my favorite." However, she never did that.

Shari is also survived by her brothers David (Edna) Hamlin and Nathan (Sally) Hamlin, brother-in-law Tom Grimes, and Erik's partner, Paddie La Bruyere'. She is survived by her grandchildren Alison Snyder (Josh George), Gage Thompson, Catherine Larson (Asher Larson), Sarah Boettcher (Jordan Loeffler), and Zachary Richard Saks Boettcher. It was no secret that the role of grandma was her favorite job. Finally, Shari is survived by nieces and nephews who will carry on her humor and love and/or will carry on the strength they developed as targets of her humor and recipients of her love.

The oldest of six children, Shari worked the hardest and got the least freedom of her siblings. Allegedly. When she and her brother David were put in the same first grade class, the school decided to keep David back a year because Sharilynne answered for him whenever he was asked questions. We suspect the questions included “Why is your sister like that?” and “Can you make her stop?”

After graduating from Bondurant-Farrar High School in 1961, Sharilynne studied at the Iowa Lutheran Hospital School of Nursing. Shari once confronted an instructor who said, "People from large families have lower IQs than people from small families." After laughing out loud at him, she proceeded to get the highest score in the course. Upon graduation in 1964, Shari specialized in psychiatric nursing and worked at the Veterans home in Knoxville. The residents had a pool table, and when she worked overnights and things were slow, she and the other nurses would shoot pool. Shari excelled and would later both surprise and impress her children with this talent.

Shari's medical background also came in handy as the "neighborhood nurse." Parents would bring their injured kids to her to get preliminary diagnoses. Shari’s response was almost always, “You can put ice on that and give them something for the pain, but you might want to take them to the doctor to get checked out.” She did not employ that philosophy with her own offspring. Regardless of the nature of the injury, when her kids asked for help, her response was either "We'll put a butterfly bandage on that. It will be fine" or “Come over here and I’ll help you up.” This instilled a can-do spirit in her children as well as several scars and some bone fractures that never healed right.

When Kirk started kindergarten, Shari was a substitute nurse for the Southeast Polk School District. She maintained her nursing license her entire life, renewing it just last fall. Part of her dedication to nursing involved her personal mission to make sure everyone referred to their bellybutton as a "navel" because "that's the correct biological term for it!"

Shari collected Noah's Arks because they represent love and hope and she loved animals and rainbows. Her collection included several arks her husband Rich made. She painted the arks and animals for each set. Shari was active in her church and led Vacation Bible School on multiple occasions and taught children's weekly religious classes for many years.

Shari was also homeroom mother for her kids' elementary classes multiple times. Of course, there was the year she wasn't homeroom mother and she got a call from a woman who said, “We need cookies for the party tomorrow, and since you don’t work, we thought you could make some.” Shari responded, “That's right. I don’t work at all. I just lie around home on the couch in my nightie eating grapes!!” In the end, she made the cookies, though that particular woman never called again.

Shari enjoyed gardening and grew amazing roses, a variety of other flowers, and houseplants. She also enjoyed birdwatching and had a variety of bird feeders on her deck – many of which Rich had made. Shari painted each one (because if they weren’t painted, "the birds wouldn’t eat there"). As for the squirrels who tried to raid the feeders, Shari shot them (using squirt guns filled with water and jalapeño juice). She found this to be an effective, albeit temporary, solution.

While there aren't enough butterfly bandages to help us fully heal from this loss, Shari leaves behind a tremendous legacy of love and many tremendous stories. In celebration of Shari's life, consider going out for a tuna sandwich and a chocolate malt or maybe for hot wings and a Diet Coke. She liked those things.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., Friday, May 31, 2024, at Hamilton's Funeral Home, 105 4th Street SW, Altoona, IA 50009. The funeral will be on Saturday, June 1, beginning at 10:00 a.m., also at Hamilton's in Altoona. Interment will be in Altoona Cemetery, next to her husband Richard.

In lieu of sending flowers, memorial contributions may be made to UnityPoint Health – Des Moines Foundation in support of either Nursing Education & Innovation or the Cancer & Blood Disorders Center.

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