SOUTHWICK: Sharyn Drenen died peacefully in her home surrounded by her loving family after a very courageous battle with cancer. She was born on July 27, 1947, to Evelyn (Connor) Roberge and Leo Roberge of Ludlow, Massachusetts. She grew up on a farm in Ludlow where she enjoyed a childhood filled with adventures in the barn and around the farm with the animals, including riding horses, swimming in the brook and playing with the other children, including her sister Pam and her dear friend, Terri. She recalled those early years on the farm with great fondness throughout her life.
She married the love of her life, Sonny Drenen, on July 2, 1966 in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts. They spent their early married life in New York, Vermont, and eventually settled in Southwick where they built a life and raised 5 children.
She enjoyed spending time with and caring for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Time spent creating memories and continuing family traditions was extremely important to her. She loved celebrating holidays with her large family and worked tirelessly to make the holidays, especially Christmas, extremely special for everyone. Trips to the beach as a family or with her husband were something she very much enjoyed. She enjoyed time spent outdoors, gardening, and working in her yard and taking walks with her husband. She absolutely loved music and dancing. She had great rhythm and loved to dance with a partner but would often be moved to dance alone if she couldn’t find one!
She pursued her dream of becoming a nurse and completed the L.P.N. program at Springfield hospital and worked as a nurse in many capacities for over 50 years until she retired in 2017. She loved being a nurse and took great pride in caring for her patients. She worked at Baystate Hospital, Providence Hospital, was a school nurse for over 10 years in the Southwick school system, worked per diem in local nursing homes, and found a great calling working with the residents at the American Inn retirement community for almost two decades at the end of her career. It also brought Sharyn a great source of pride and joy to be involved in her husband’s business, Drenen Financial, where she loved to greet clients, help out answering the phones and whatever else needed doing during the very busy tax season. It made her very happy to decorate the office beautifully and it gave her a great deal of pride to see the old building restored so beautifully.
Her religious and spiritual life were one of the most important aspects of her life and she had a great passion for her love of Christ, and her church community at Our Lady of the Lake Church. She held several roles within the church including Director of Religious Education, was a part of the folk group providing beautiful music during mass, was instrumental in organizing countless groups and services within the church and was a founding member of the church’s (Bethlehem) prayer group which met weekly for many years. She also served as a lay Eucharistic minister and visited homebound parishioners. Sharyn considered her church friends as a part of her own family. She was also very involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Praise and Worship groups, and Mass Citizens for Life to name a few.
She had an incredible faith in God which was an inspiration to everyone who met her. She was someone who would always look for ways to help others and volunteered for different organizations including her local soup kitchen for many years. She would often bring her children and then grandchildren with her on those trips and she enjoyed that special time together.
She is survived by her loving husband of almost 56 years, Sonny Drenen, her five children: Brian (Irina) Drenen (Southwick), Shannon (Tracie) Drenen (Granville), Laura (Noah) Labow (Morrisville, VT), Matthew Drenen (Southwick), and Stephen Drenen (Southwick); 10 grandchildren: Kayla Drenen, Madison Drenen, Tristan Drenen, Andre Belyshev, Bella Belyshev, Jacob Drenen, Aidan Drenen, Benjamin Drenen, Ellie Drenen, Emma Drenen, and two great-grandchildren: Bramadi Eaton and Aryiah Velez. She is also survived by her sister Pamela (Marty) Demers (Belchertown) and many cousins, nieces and nephews who were all very dear to her.
She is predeceased by her parents, Evelyn (Connor) Roberge and Leo Roberge of Ludlow.
The funeral liturgy will be held on Monday, March 21, 2022, at 10AM in Our Lady of the Lake Church, Sheep Pasture Rd., Southwick. Sharyn’s burial will follow in New Cemetery, College Highway, Southwick. The visiting hours will be held on Sunday, March 20, 2022, from 2-6PM in the Firtion-Adams Funeral Service, 76 Broad St., Westfield. www.firtionadams.com
