Sunday, November 16, 2008

More Family Graves


The very first cemetery I remember visiting is the Riverside Cemetery in Mangum, Greer County, OK. More of my family is buried here than in any other cemetery. The cemetery was only a few blocks from my grandmother's house and we would go there often when I was staying with her. My grandfather, Joseph Marion Cheek, died shortly after I was born so I never got to know him. My grandmother never talked about him very much but we visited his grave frequently to put fresh flowers on it. Grandma Cheek died when I was eight. I remember a lot about her but almost nothing about her funeral. The plot where they are buried also has the graves of my Dad's two sisters, Cleta Cheek Jones and Ruby Cheek Lewis. I still visit Riverside Cemetery everytime we go to Mangum. Unfortunately that is not as often as I would like because none of the family live anywhere near there anymore. But I definitely give credit to Grandma Cheek for helping create my interest in cemeteries. I will be posting more about Riverside and will add to my store of knowledge about this treasured place every chance I get.


For more information on Dad's family go to http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cheekfamok/dadsann.html

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Closest to Home

It just seems fitting to begin this venture at the cemetery closest to home, both geographically and in my memories. My parents' graves are in Arlington Memory Gardens just a few miles from our home. As you can see from the gravestone, my Dad was an Army officer who served on WWII and Korea. He died of a heart attack in 1977 shortly before the birth of his sixth grandchild, my son Robert Aaron Cheek. Mom lived another 16 years. She died in 1993 and just missed the birth of her first great grandchild, my granddaughter, Erin Davis.

I have not done much exploration at this cemetery. Maybe because the memories here are still too personal. I'm sure that I will add it to my list of discoveries one day, but not yet. If anyone has an interest in something specific here I will be glad to find out what I can.