Marian Elaine Sheeran

Marian Elaine Sheeran, 42, Mission, Kansas, passed away Saturday, March 17, 2012. Marian Sheeran was born on February 7, 1970, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived in Browndeer, Wisconsin, for several years. She and her family then moved to Overland Park, Kansas. Marian graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School in 1988.

One of Marian's favorite quotes to live by was "I am always learning". She truly had a zeal to learn and had a wide variety of activities and passions in her life. One such passion was music. She enjoyed many years of playing the piano and began her college career in piano performance. In addition, she learned to play the guitar, recorder, bass guitar as well as percussion instruments and used these to write and record her own beautiful music.

On the other side of the spectrum, Marian also had a strong interest in astronomy, physics, math, and the making and breaking of codes. She pursued these interests at the University of Kansas to eventually earn her Bachelor of Science Degree in Astronomy in 1993. It was in an astronomy class that she first met her future husband Bob Stewart (Bob had accidentally sat in what was her seat). Marian and Bob eventually married in 1995 and were not only each other's "sweetie" but also each other's best friend. Marian used her physics and math knowledge to become a wonderful and dedicated physics teacher at Shawnee Mission South High School.

Marian's main teaching passion, however, lay in teaching about the Japanese culture and language. She fell in love with the Japanese culture while spending the year of 1994 in Osaka, Japan teaching English. Upon her return from Japan, Marian attended KU, as well as several intensive summer programs at other universities, to learn the Japanese language and to become certified to teach Japanese. She then spent the next 13 years as an amazing and inspirational teacher of Japanese at the Center for International Studies in the Shawnee Mission School District. Marian was such an inspirational teacher that many of her former students followed in her footsteps to live and teach English in Japan. In 2004 Marian earned her Masters Degree in language acquisition and linguistics from the University of Kansas.

Inspired by her sister Jean, Marian began learning the art of ceramics and pottery. This was the perfect combination of art and science. The shaping of the clay into a pleasing form is pure art. Understanding the properties of the clay and the chemical properties of the glazes and how they react in the kiln required scientific understanding. Marian brought her passions for art and science together to create some truly beautiful ceramic pieces. Many of her pieces had a strong Japanese influence; particularly her tea bowls. She even had one of her tea bowls accepted into the National Tea Bowl Competition in 2011.

Marian is survived by her husband, Bob Stewart of the home; father and mother, Francis and Janet Sheeran, Overland Park, Kansas; sister, Jean Grey, Overland Park, Kansas; brother Frank Sheeran, Hong Kong, China; and father and mother-in-law, Phil and Mary Ann Stewart, Paola, Kansas.

A Memorial service will be held at a later date.