After 13 Years, our Mammablondie has retired as a listowner of the Hepatitis B Information and Support List. Sheree Martin has been List Mom to thousands of hepBers who have come to us from all over the world. Like a true mother, she was quick to give hugs, the cyber kind, just when we needed them most. And when we squabbled, she was there to call “time out”.
As for the “information” component of our list, Sheree has contributed more than anyone else. She has spent countless hours scanning the Internet daily for HBV research and news. The result of her efforts is our Hepatitis B Research List. For those wishing for information only, you can select send a blank email to HBV_Research-on@mail-list.com
For a number of years the PKIDS organization hired her to do the same thing for them, provide them with daily bulletins about kids’ infectious diseases. Sheree donated the money she earned to our listserv in order to cover miscellaneous expenses.
In the beginning days of the List, John Kirk and I recognized immediately what a gem Sheree was, and we invited her to join us as a third listowner. She was smart, she was a nurse, she had IT skills, she was a good writer, and she knew how to referee when the two male egos would wrestle.
Sheree lives in the same small town where she grew up, on the edge of the Appalachian Mountains. She’s proud of what she calls her hillbilly roots.
We all got to know and love Sheree’s mother, Yvonne, when she accompanied Sheree to the Hepatitis B Foundation’s patient conferences. Not only did Yvonne have HBV, but in 1999, Sheree’s only sibling, Mike, died of liver cancer associated with HBV. Fighting HBV was a very personal battle for Sheree.
We’ll need two people to fill Sheree’s shoes on the List. Yvonne Drazic (Australia) will be our new listowner, and Christine Kukka (Maine) will take over the Research List.
At home in that picturesque country village, Sheree will have more time to do what she loves most– being a mother to her 3 sons, 2 grandsons, 2 dachshunds, and 1 beagle.
We won’t lose our List Mom completely. “I’ll still be around,” Sheree promises. I’ll be lurking in the wings.”
A big hug to Sheree,
Steve Bingham, Retired List Dad
If you or someone you know is living with hepatitis B, we encourage you to join this HBV online forum filled with information, support and compassion!