Kerry Jo Brayton (71) was born August 12, 1952, and passed away peacefully at her home in Sheridan on January 13, 2024.

Kerry was born the fourth of six daughters to the late Donal and Mary Gwen Brayton. She attended Holy Name, where she gave the nuns a run for their money and graduated from Sheridan High School in 1970.

Kerry worked hard her whole life -- graduating from Sheridan College in dental hygiene and went on to earn her Bachelor of Science from the University of Wyoming, after which she earned a Masters of Science in Public Health from the University of Michigan. She lived by a motto of working hard and playing harder. Adventure was something she lived for, whether it was hiking the Big Horns, motorcycling, skiing, biking, or grabbing a quick drink with friends at the Last Chance or the Mint.

Kerry put on a backpack and toured Europe after school, and she worked for a time on the Hopi/Navajo reservation in Arizona. Kerry married Steve Clough in 1988 and worked in the dental field in New Hampshire until retiring – first to the beaches of South Carolina and finally back to her hometown in Sheridan 11 years ago, where she helped care for her sister and mother, enjoyed her cats and dogs, and lived for time to be on the mountain at her beloved cabin.

Kerry was famous for having more fun than most anyone in the room. She was a quick-witted jokester who loved life and poking fun at everyone and everything. Her stories, her laugh and her fun-loving spirit were contagious to all.

She is survived by three of her sisters (Patricia, Susan and Barbara), her cousins who were some of her favorite people, and a load of nephews/nieces and great-nieces/nephews in whom she tried to instill her fun-loving adventuresome spirit. Any chance she could take one of them skiing, bounce around the mountains or catch one of their events, she was all in.

Most of all, Kerry was that rare kind of person who her friends and family could always count on to be there for them, always! She will be missed by many in Sheridan and beyond.

Kane Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements.

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