Richard Alan Cherry

Richard Alan Cherry passed away peacefully at home in Ridge Spring, South Carolina, on July 4th, 2026 after many years of battling Parkinson’s Disease. Richard, also known as Alan in his family, was born July 15th, 1938, in Albuquerque, New Mexico to Wilbur Aubrey Cherry and Mary Louise Cherry (McComb). He was the 2nd oldest of 8 total children.

From there, he continued to live in Albuquerque and joined the Navy from Oct 4th, 1955 and was discharged in November 1961. During his service, he met his wife Karen Jayne Seymour and got married July 12th, 1958.

They moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1962 after starting to grow their family with the birth of their daughter Jaylene Louise Cherry (Ingelhart), and proceeded to have their two sons Kevin Evrette Cherry and Craig Alan Cherry.

Richard spent many years dedicating his life to working for the telephone company where he ended up retiring from. He also was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He enjoyed watching and reading westerns and watching football and boxing matches.

In 1998, he and Karen bought property and moved to Ridge Spring, SC where he worked on pulling any weeds he could find and trees to turn it into a tree farm. He could be found anywhere on the property getting his hands dirty and doing the hard work.

In his final years, he could be found contently at home with his daughter, Jaylene, and his great granddaughter Baylee Anne Thurston (Perkins), enjoying the farm life with chickens running around and telling old man jokes.

He was a strong man, stubborn to a fault, independent, and loved to take on any adventure such as this big move or the multiple cruises he went on before he could no longer handle it. He was a good man, a devoted man to Christ, a good grandpa, and a good Pappy as his great grandchildren called him.

He is preceded in death by his wife Karen Cherry, his parents Wilbur and Mary Cherry, His youngest brother Ron Cherry and his sister Sharon Cherry, his granddaughter Jennifer Perkins, and his grandson Andrew Perkins. He is survived by his three children Jaylene Ingelhart of Ridge Spring, SC, Kevin Cherry of Grand Island, NE, Craig Cherry and his wife Shelley of Oklahoma City, OK. He is also survived by his sisters Betty Herrington, Bobbi Howard, Karen Scogin, Marjorie Strode and his brother Wilbur Aubrey Cherry. His legacy is also passed on by his three grandchildren David Perkins, Russell Perkins, Princess Duke, and his 11 great grandchildren.

He was loved and will be missed by all, however, now is the time for him to be with our heavenly father and his loving wife. 

SHELLHOUSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 924 HAYNE AVE., AIKEN, SC