Danice “Dani” Johanna Sher died on Thursday, March 27, 2025 after a prolonged 18-month battle with Stage IV gallbladder cancer. Born on Oct. 21, 1975, from the time she was a little girl, she had a unique ability to make people laugh. As a toddler, she famously took the stage at Disney World and commanded an audience with an impromptu song-and-dance routine. In elementary school, she was the class clown and was quick with jokes and eerily accurate imitations of characters from Saturday Night Live. Her delight in bringing joy to others made her a supportive and loving wife, friend, sister, mother, and daughter right until her very last moments.
She attended The Bolles School where she was active in student government and honed her theatrical chops. She majored in French Literature and Pre-Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, and developed her love of Improvisational Comedy with Mama’s Pot Roast Improv Troupe. She also studied for a semester at The Sorbonne in Paris. After graduation, she moved to Chicago to take classes and perform at Improv Olympics (iO) and was ultimately offered a job as a comedian at Boom Chicago Comedy Theatre in Amsterdam, where she lived and performed for nearly three years.
She returned from her lively Amsterdam era in 2005 ready to pursue her other passion, medicine. Attending Midwestern University, she earned her Physician Associate degree and worked in the Emergency departments in several of Chicago’s busiest hospitals where she was exceptionally quick on her feet and brilliant in her ability to diagnose and care for patients. In the initial frightening months of uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, she was bravely on the frontlines in overfilled and understaffed hospitals. Through it all, she continued to bring her quick wit and compassion to her co-workers and patients alike.
She met the love of her life, Matt Ryan, in 2005. It was love at first sight when she saw him singing a karaoke version of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name.”
She was the creator and owner of Sparkle Aesthetics Med Spa in Oak Park. Her business, like her, was full of Sparkle, bright and happy. Armed with ultrasound techniques, she pioneered the use of this skill in the safe administration of facial fillers in the aesthetic industry, becoming an expert in the field who was invited to speak at conferences around the U.S. and abroad.
Dani is survived by her husband, Matt Ryan; her children, the two brightest lights of her life, Josephine and Emmett Ryan; her parents, Harvey and Patricia Sher; her sisters, Rachel Sher and Alyssa Creney; and many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, in-laws, and friends. She will be deeply missed.
Visitation was held at Zimmerman-Harnett Funeral Home, 7319 Madison St., Forest Park, on April 4, followed by a celebration of life ceremony on April 5 at Cheney Mansion, 220 N. Euclid Ave., Oak Park.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Camp Kesem, a nonprofit organization that provides ongoing support to children through and beyond a parent’s cancer diagnosis. Camp Kesem, 440 N. Barranca Ave., #2273, Covina, CA 91723 or online at www.Kesem.org for the national organization or Camp Kesem Notre Dame program.