Shawntay Marie Wise was born on December 1, 1960, to Gladys and Robert Wise Jr. in Gary, Indiana, where she lived with her parents and grandparents. She professed her love and commitment to Christ at an early age, was baptized and attended Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church in Gary, where she sang in the Youth Adult Choir for many years.

Shawntay was a quiet and shy young lady, but also smart and focused. She attended schools in the Gary Public School system; Ivanhoe Elementary, Pulaski Middle, and Roosevelt High School, where she studied mechanical drawing and graduated in June of 1980.

After graduating from high school, she moved to Akron, Ohio. In 1988, she began working at GOJO Industries Incorporated as a Production Associate. A few years later, she met Theodore Sherman and married in September of 1990. To this union one son was born, Theron Lee Sherman. Through the years, and after wearing several hats, she was promoted to Production Line Supervisor where she trained, monitored, and enforced safety procedures and policies. She enjoyed her work at GOJO, specifically working on the Purell and Back-to-School lines each year. After 30+ years of faithful and dedicated service, Shawntay retired in 2019.

Shawntay loved to travel. Her favorite US destination was Las Vegas. She absolutely loved the energy of the city, non-stop events, and people watching. She really enjoyed the long dinners, great shopping, and Vegas-style shows and traveled there annually for “Sister” trips with her mother and sisters for many years. Her lifelong dream, one day, was to travel to Bali.

Shawntay loved listening to music, especially the “oldies but goodies” from the ’60s & ’70s. She and her brother, Marvin, spent countless hours listening to, sorting through, and designing various CDs for their entertainment pleasure and others. Good parties with friends and family were always the goal to showcase their music.

Shawntay had a creative side to her. She cooked, canned, made jellies, and designed her own holiday cards. These thoughtful gestures were always gift wrapped in a beautiful package and given with Love. With early lessons from her grandmother, she continued her creative journey and pursued her first love – sewing. At a young age, she furthered her knowledge by learning to make her own clothes and eventually began sewing for others. However, her more serious passion began to surface, and her real love and talent was baking. With the time-treasured recipes handed down to her from her grandmother, she began experimenting by updating them and creating her own new recipes. She made sweet treats for family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. Requests for her baked goods became more popular, frequent, and far-reaching and eventually, her entrepreneurial side took over. She expanded this love of baking and created her own small home-based business, appropriately named after her grandmother, “Refolia’s from scratch Bake Shop.”

Shawntay loved life and her family and genuinely enjoyed sharing it with everyone. She was a caring, positive, supportive, and graceful person. She was a caregiver to those in need and a friend to all. She had the best heart and good intentions always. She never turned away from those in need and continued to extend a helping hand wherever she may have been needed. She was passionate about many things and tried to always live her best life. She kept God first in her life and she brought so much joy, happiness, and love to her son, family, and friends. She will be dearly missed.

Shawntay was preceded in death by her father, Robert Wise Jr.; grandparents, Howard and Refolia Eddie, Charles and Alice Henderson of Gary, IN and Robert Wise, Sr. of Akron, OH.

She leaves to cherish her loving memory, her only son, Theron Lee Sherman and his father, Theodore of Akron, OH; mother, Gladys Wise of Akron, OH; sisters, Cheryl (Percy) Jones of Merrillville, IN., Victoria Wise, Debra Wise, Karina (Robert) Hunter, and Kelly Wise, all of Akron, OH, Robin Blue of Tacoma, WA, Arlana (Denver) Jones of Gary, IN and LaTora Wise of Tuscaloosa, AL; brothers, Marvin Wise of Akron, OH and Reginald Wise of Tuscaloosa, AL; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and an incredibly special friend.