Sheri Dew: Living the unexpected life
'Unmarried' leader is almost a celebrity among LDS
"Oh, you're the unmarried one," perfect strangers will blurt out upon meeting her.
The unmarried general officer of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Dew is everywhere confronted with her singleness, whether in the family-lined pews of the chapel on Sunday and the constant emphasis on the family unit, or with questions from the curious.
"How come you're not married?" she is often asked.
"Because no one asked," she likes to say, using her deft humor, as she often does, to deflect painful or awkward moments.
The questions have even turned ignorant and mean:
How can you call yourself an LDS woman and not be married?
She always wanted and expected to be married, to raise children, to stay at home; she never meant to become a career woman, no apologies to feminists (who must be cringing). As she says, "There isn't anyone who wants to see me married more than I do."
But here she is, at 48, the newly named CEO of Deseret Book, the second counselor in the LDS Church's Relief Society presidency the first unmarried woman ever to become a general officer in the church (there's that unmarried thing again) and the author of four books. Never did she imagine such a career, nor that she would live her life alone. Dew's best friend, Wendy Watson, a professor at Brigham Young University who is also single, calls it "living the unexpected life."
It has become part of her appeal.
Sheri Dew, the Kansas farm girl, stands out in the LDS Church, and not just because she is 5-foot-10. She receives thousands of letters from church members and is approached on the street by her, well, fans. The LDS Church understandably shies from celebrity Mormonism, but there is no denying Dew's popularity.
Recent comments
Sister Dew speaks to our place in the world as women of God. Is...
Joan King | Jan. 19, 2009 at 12:31 a.m.
anyone know how one would get in touch with Sis. Dew???
just wandering??? | Oct. 29, 2008 at 4:35 p.m.
I greatly appreciate Sister Dew. She has inspired my life in her...
MFM | Oct. 28, 2008 at 9:04 p.m.
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