Shari Solari

GLENDIVE, MONTANA: Shari Lyn Solari, age 28, of Glendive, Montana passed away on Monday, February 9, 2009 at the Billings Clinic in Billings. Visitation will be from 11:00 A.M.- 5:00 P.M. on Friday, February 13, 2009 and from 9:00 A.M.- 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, February 14, 2009, at the Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive. A Life Tribute Service will be held at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, February 14, 2009 in the Chapel of the Silvernale Silha Funeral Home with Celebrant Sandy Silha officiating. Interment will be in the Dawson Memorial Cemetery of Glendive. Silvernale-Silha Funeral Home of Glendive has been entrusted with the arrangements. Shari was born on August 3, 1980 in Glendive the daughter of Kyle and Kim (Nentwig) Schumacher. She resided in Glendive until 1987 and then moved to Laurel, Montana where she attended schools, graduating from Laurel High School with the class of 1998. Shari moved to Bozeman, Montana in 1998 where she attended Montana State University for a year. She made her residence in Bozeman until moving to Billings, Montana in 2000 where she remained until 2006 when she returned to Glendive. Shari was joined in marriage to Jay Solari on December 1, 2005 in Billings. She was a dedicated and loving mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend who loved being with her children. Some of her favorite pastimes included music, karaoke, laughing and enjoying life. Shari was preceded in death by her grandfathers, Ray Nentwig of Glendive and Albert Phelps of Miles City, Montana. Shari is survived by her husband of three years, Jay Solari of Glendive; her son Lucas Harper, born September 14, 1999 and her daughter, Arianna Lance, born July 8, 2002; her mother and step-father, Kim and Ted Trejo of Glendive, her father, Kyle Schumacher of Miles City; sisters, April Schumacher of Glendive, Kyla Schumacher of Billings, Gemine Trejo of Glendive and Winter Schumacher of Miles City, Montana; nieces and nephews, Joseph Decker, Elizabeth Decker, Ashton Anderson, Bailey Anderson all of Glendive and Quentin Erhardt of Billings; grandparents, Rose Nentwig of Glendive, Betty Phelps of Miles City and Bill and Sally Trejo of Billings; aunts, Sue Schwindt and family of Glendive, Iris Nentwig and family of Belgrade, Montana and uncles, Wayne Nentwig and family of Sidney, Montana, Steve Murphy of Miles City and Mike Murphy of Idaho and many friends and people who loved her. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at: www.silvernale-silhafuneralhome.com Life Tribute Service: As we begin our time together, remembering and honoring Shari Lyn Solari, members of Shari's family will be lighting candles to burn throughout our tribute service to signify the ever-present love and memories of Shari that will always live on in their hearts. The light from these candle's flames symbolizes the brightness Shari added to the lives of all the special people in Shari's circle of life. As Shari's family lights their candles to honor Shari, please listen to a song that was very special to Shari, "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Simon and Garfunkel. Candlelighting and Song: "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" by Simon and Garfunkel Shari was a bubbly, vibrant, and colorful personality who will be remembered with many smiles. Shari had a special zest for life and she loved and enjoyed the people in her life. When Shari's mother Kim brought Ted into their lives about nineteen years ago, Shari and her sisters tested Ted thoroughly. But their relationship grew to one of mutual love. Ted has written the following words, titled: Shari You ignited happiness and laughter with your charismatic spark. Your beauty was true and deep From your expressions, to your cute and clever remarks. And now… Without you here, It feels like a song without the melody; But we will keep you in our hearts always, So that you will live through our memories. Love, Ted, your Dad Shari’s sister, Gemine, has prepared a video tribute as a visual reminder of Shari and how important her touch has been on the lives of her family and friends. The music you will hear in the video was enjoyed many times by Shari. Eulogy Shari Lyn Solari has been a significant presence and an important person in the lives of her family and friends for the past 28 years. Twenty eight years is not a long time, but during those years, Shari deeply touched the hearts of those around her. From the time Shari was born, and throughout her life, there were things that characterized her strong personality. Shari always enjoyed being the center of attention, and had a very straightforward manner. She could be strong willed and stubborn, but this was tempered with a sweetness and consideration for others. Even as a baby, Shari had very expressive eyes, or should we say, eyebrows. You could watch her move those eyebrows around and as her mother, Kim, says, you knew by the brows what was going to come out of her mouth before Shari would say it. A lot of what came out of Shari’s mouth was music. Shari had a life-long love of singing. A picture of Shari that comes to mind for family is of Shari, just out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her head, singing opera. Shari loved to sing her music with an opera flavor. And she did it often. Her favorite music was the music she grew up with in the 80’s. She especially enjoyed Leta Ford, Rick Springfield, KISS, Pat Benetar, and the Chipmunks. Shari received her first cassette of music as a Christmas gift. The cassette was of Simon and Garfunkel, and was always special to Shari. The song you heard earlier, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”, was a favorite off that cassette. A song you will hear later, “In The Garden” was a song Shari loved to listen to when she visited her Grandma Rose Nentwig. Shari’s love of singing was shared with her husband, Jay, and they would sing together at home and also enjoyed karaoke. Oddly enough, Shari did not sing in her school choir. She chose instead to play in the band and was first chair clarinet for her high school’s symphonic band. Shari’s family also describes Shari as being a bit blond, and they are not just talking about her hair color. An honor student throughout high school, Shari was very book smart, but in the real world she would puzzle about such things as “Why do the bugs keep running into our windshield?” This “blonde” trait amused her sisters greatly. Something everyone will miss about Shari is her laugh. Shari had a unique laugh and it would just explode from her. If you told her a joke you wanted to be behind her when she heard it, or you might get sprayed when she laughed. Her laugh was powerful! Shari had a very close relationship with her sisters. She was the oldest, with only eighteen months between her and April. Shari and April shared many adventures or maybe we should say misadventures. More than sisters, they were great friends. Together they ram-rodded the two younger girls, Kyla and Gemine, through many experiences. It would be Kyla and Gemine that would be talked into sitting or lying on the floor of the backseat of the car when traveling so Shari and April could have more room on the seat. And it was Kyla and Gemine who were sent for help when an adventure went awry. Shari and April were quite creative in their play. One activity distinctly remembered involved covering Shari with the gravel near their home. With a straw in her mouth so she could breathe, her sisters would cover Shari entirely with rocks so she could jump up from the gravel and scare people. Shari always enjoyed scary movies, starting with “Poltergiest,” and a favorite being “Chuckie.” Another favorite activity of the girls was to sing and create and act out plays. Shari was pretty much a girl, girl. As a youngster she was, in a word, “chunky”. And she could wear white from the time she was little and not get dirty. Shari never liked being dirty. A favorite activity of the family was tent camping and hiking at Woodbine and Fishtail. All kinds of experiences and weather were enjoyed. One odd habit Shari had was that she would not eat her food outside. She claimed that the wind made her food taste funny. She always ate in the tent or in the car. When Shari was in a growing stage just before entering high school, she was diagnosed with severe scoliosis in her back. Throughout her high school years, she wore a brace from her neck down, covering the trunk of her body. She was only supposed to take the brace off to bathe. This prevented Shari from continuing running cross country, a sport that she enjoyed and was successful at. When Shari graduated from high school, her goal was to enlist in the Navy or Air Force so that her education would be paid for and she could follow her dream of teaching marine biology. Shari had been to Sea World and became very interested in Orca whales. Although she never saw this dream completed, Orca whales were one of the things she collected. Shari was very strong willed. As a youngster, she and her mother had their disagreements. After one of these times around Halloween, Shari took her pumpkin that was used to collect Halloween candy, filled it with clean underwear, and proceeded to run away from home. At the time, Shari and her family lived in a trailer court near the railroad tracks. Not far from their trailer were logs beside the railroad tracks that the bums would sit on while they waited for a train to come through that they could jump on. As Kim looked out her window, she saw her little runaway perched on the bum logs. Kim could keep an eye on Shari from the window. Shari’s sisters fretted and thought their Mother should go and get Shari, but Kim just watched, and when it started to get dark, in Shari came, not saying a word, and unpacked her underwear from the pumpkin. The runaway was home. Shari’s determined spirit showed when she got her first job. Shari delivered the Gazette. Early every morning, Shari would roll and band the papers and put them in bags for delivery. Then she would go on her route with her mother. Shari would get out at one end of a street and Kim would park at the other, waiting for Shari to walk to the car delivering the papers. Sometimes Shari’s sisters would help. Kyla recalls one time she helped Shari deliver. They were on opposite sides of the street, walking towards the car. All of a sudden Shari took off running, yelling for Kyla to get to the car. Once inside the car, Shari looked out to see if the dog that had scared her, had followed and was still out there. Thinking the dog was gone, the girls resumed delivering the papers. Shari again began running, yelling at Kyla. Shari could hear the dog’s collar jingling and the faster she ran, the faster the jingling was. Once everyone got calmed down, they discovered that it was the rings on Shari’s coat zipper that were jingling. Shari delivered papers for a long time because her goal was to save enough money to buy a car. Shari accomplished her goal, buying her first car for $500, except, she didn’t even have a driver’s license yet. Her uncle Wayne picked up the car for Shari and parked it in front of the house. Even though Shari couldn’t drive the car, she and her sisters would sit in it and listen to the radio. And that car was the cleanest car in town, because Shari and her sisters were constantly washing it. A bit of bad luck occurred when the neighbors across the street backed into the door on the car. But they gave Shari money to fix the door. The door was still able to open and close, so when Shari got her driver’s license, she used the money to license and insure her ride. The day Shari got licensed to drive, she was to play in a band concert at school. Even though they lived across the street from the school, Shari insisted on driving everyone to the concert in her car. After the concert, she about got into a wreck leaving the parking lot of the school. Shari’s comment upon arriving home was, “Wasn’t that the best ride?” Shari always owned cars with a clutch, but the general consensus was that she really wasn’t a very good clutch driver. Jay says her favorite parking spot was to jump the curb, and once she had managed to take out one of their mailboxes. But Shari thought she was a fine driver, and she enjoyed driving and being on the go. As a single parent, Shari worked a variety of jobs to provide for her family, sometimes working two jobs. Shari worked as a waitress/bartender, she worked retail in Wal-Mart, and she had managed a Burger King. It was when she was working at Wal-Mart that she met Jay, who worked there also. One day at work, Shari managed to cut herself, and Jay found every type of band-aid and salve available to prevent her from bleeding to death. It didn’t take him long to convince her that he was serious and they were married in 2005 in Billings. Shari wanted to move to Glendive to be nearer her family, and thought Jay should try to find work in the oil fields. Jay wanted what Shari wanted, and they did just that. Shari loved and enjoyed her family. She enjoyed life. Shari liked wearing bold colors, but her favorite colors were black and white. In addition to liking scary movies, her favorite television shows were American Idol, Big Brother, Law and Order, and Jay got her into watching the show, Dirty Jobs. In addition to collecting Orca whales, Shari collected painted masks, and unicorns. A few of these items from her collections are displayed here today. Her favorite foods were Italian, and she could make a mean lasagna. Cooking wasn’t Shari’s strong suit, but she tried. Whenever the family had get-togethers, Shari was asked to bring buns or chips. Shari had a soft spot for animals of all kinds. She would adopt any creature, and take care of them. But the most important thing Shari did was to be a mother. She loved doing things with her children, playing with them, being able to buy them things. Shari and April were pregnant at the same time with their first babies. April had her son one month prior to Shari having Lucas. Shari and April shared that special time and their sons played and grew together. About three years later, Shari was blessed with a daughter, Arianna. Being a good mother was something Shari was dedicated to. Her children meant everything to her. The two pink roses Shari holds today are symbolic of her children and the love Shari shared with Lucas and Arianna. Lucas has many good memories of times shared with his mother. Lucas “really liked it when she took him to the Billings motel to go on the water slides, and when they went to the skating rink for his birthday, he had a lot of fun. One of his favorite memories is when she got him his 4-wheeler.” Lucas remembers how happy his mom was when he gave her a bowling pin that says Happy Birthday. Lucas wants to tell his Mom that he loves her very much and he is really going to miss her. The following are Arianna’a own words about her mother. “I like going on drives with my mom to drop off my brother to his dad, and just driving around with her. I liked it when she would watch me roller skating and we would hang out. I liked it when we would go grocery shopping. My Mom was real pretty and nice, and she would take me to shop for clothes and help me pick outfits. I liked looking for Easter eggs with my mom, it was fun. I liked it when she got me my ‘Build A Bear workshop’ for Christmas. She would always buy me a lot of toys and candy at the store. So I liked to go to the store with her. I liked to play with my mom. I liked to give my mom hugs when she would drop me off at school and kisses, a lot of them. I want to say ‘Bye’ to my mommy, and I Love You, Mommy. I Miss You.” Arianna As you listen to the song “In the Garden” perhaps it will bring to mind a favorite memory of Shari for each of you here today. It is difficult to comprehend that Shari is truly gone. There is a huge hole in the hearts of family and friends. The grief journey will be long and difficult. “When someone dies, you don’t get over it by forgetting; you get over it by remembering, and you are aware that no person is ever truly lost or gone once they have been in our life and loved us, as we have loved them.”(Leslie Marmon Silko) Remember Shari. Hold your memories of her close to your hearts and share them with each other. Tell her story again and again, especially to Lucas and Arianna. They truly are a part of Shari and her gift to you. We should never assume that a friend wants to mourn alone. Remind each other of the significance Shari had on your lives, and that you will always remember her. Remember the 1sts, the 1st holidays, the 1st anniversaries, the 1st birthdays, for at these times Shari’s absence will be felt with a fresh sense of loss. Be very present during these times and honor the memory of Shari. To all of Shari’s family, we as your friends and community, grieve with you and for you. Shari did not regularly attend church, but she did have a faith in God. Members of Shari’s family have selected the following reading to be read today. Safely Home I am home in Heaven, dear ones, Oh, so happy and so bright! There is perfect joy and beauty In this everlasting light. All the pain and grief is over, Every restless tossing passed, I am now at peace forever, You shall rest in God’s own land. There is work still waiting for you So you must not idly stand, Do it now, while life remaineth, You shall rest in God’s own land. When that work is all completed, He will gently call you Home, Oh the rapture of that meeting, Oh, the joy to see you come! This concludes our life tribute service for Shari Solari. Thank you all for coming. --Sandy Silha

Shari Solari

August 3, 1980 - February 14, 2009

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Shari Solari

August 3, 1980 - February 14, 2009

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

Plan Ahead

About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

Contact Information

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