Sherle Bottrill
← History & Records · died 9 August 1993 · Barrie Branch
When Sherle Bottrill died in August 1993, the Society's bulletin carried this notice. It is the archive's only surviving account of the Society's Barrie Branch, of which she was President.
C.S.C.L. lost a longtime member and good friend when Sherle Bottrill passed away at the Barrie hospital on August 9th.
After years of secretarial employment in Toronto, Sherle joined Clarke and Clarke Leathers of Barrie in 1952. For some of the time with this company, she worked at the store at 523 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto. Tandy Corporation later bought the retail division of Clarke and Clarke.
Sherle joined C.S.C.L. in the early days and took lessons from Bob Muma and Don McKinnon. She obtained her Associate standing in 1962 and, at that time, was President of the Barrie Branch, as well as being the Corresponding Secretary of C.S.C.L. Executive Council. She was awarded several Salon ribbons for her leather work and demonstrated at sales and Annual Meetings. At the Annual in 1985, she was made an honourary Life Member for her service to the Society.
Sherle's husband, Geoff, passed away in 1978 and following that, she moved to Grove Park Home in 1983. Here, she continued to do leathercraft as well as the needlecraft and decoupage that she enjoyed so much. She was also a Life Member of the Simcoe County Arts and Crafts Association.
While not able to practice crafts in recent years, Sherle always maintained interest and kept in contact with her friends. She will be greatly missed.
The notice preserves several facts recorded nowhere else in the Society's surviving papers: that a Barrie Branch existed, with Sherle Bottrill its President around 1962; her Associate standing of that year; and her Honourary Life Membership, conferred at the 1985 Annual.
Printed in Canadian Leathercraft, Fall 1993.