Cherie Marcum

Cherie Ann Marcum was born June 25, 1936, in Norman, Oklahoma, to Verna and Olna Emerson. Cherie passed away Monday, January 8, 2018, at the age of 81 at Norman Regional Hospital surrounded by her family. Cherie never got very far from her birth home in Norman when she moved to Washington, Oklahoma. She grew up in Washington and graduated from Washington High School with the class of 1954. She married her best friend and life partner, Billy Ray Marcum of Washington, on January 21, 1955. After marrying it was hard to say "Cherie" without saying "Cherie and Bill." Together they made their home near Washington where they farmed, ran a dairy, raised cattle and also their three children. Cherie earned her B.S. in Education from the University of Oklahoma and taught 15 years in the Washington Public Schools system. In 1975 she retired from teaching, and she and Bill went to work establishing Marcum's Nursery. Cherie was known to her many clients and colleagues as someone who could get things done working alongside the landscape crews she managed on a daily basis. Cherie worked diligently and energetically at Marcum's Nursery until her retirement in 2012. Cherie was a Sunday school teacher at Washington First Baptist Church for over 60 years, and she enjoyed singing special music in services regularly. She sent countless text messages and wrote thousands of notes of encouragement to her friends and neighbors. She enjoyed the many hours spent watching her children and grandchildren play sports, star in recitals and plays, and she attended school activities as often as possible. She was a longtime member of the Norman Kiwanis Club and was an avid OU sports fan, rarely missing a football game, and OU softball became a major source of enjoyment for her and Bill in her later years. During her 81 years of life, she enjoyed the company of her husband, children and grandchildren, countless friends and relatives, and her extended families at Marcum's Nursery and Washington First Baptist Church. She will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by all who knew her. Cherie was preceded in death by her parents, Verna and Olna Emerson, and her daughter, Marcia Lynne Tadlock. Cherie is survived by her husband, Bill Marcum, two sons, Monty Marcum and wife Carol of Goldsby, and Kelly Marcum and wife Jennifer of Norman; nine grandchildren, Crystal Bacon and husband Tommy, Monty Glenn Marcum and wife Cassie, Candace Benson and husband Ryan, Caitlyn Farrell and husband John, Grace Anne Marcum, Maggie Marcum, Chloe Ferguson and husband Kyle, Tyler Tadlock, and Jake Tadlock, and four great-grandsons, T. Henry Bacon, Walter Bacon, Haskell Benson and Baker Benson. Funeral Services are scheduled for 2:00 P.M., Thursday, January 11, 2018, at Washington First Baptist Church in Washington, Oklahoma. Interment will follow at Washington Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to City Rescue Mission, 800 West California Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73106, or online at www.cityrescue.org, or to Washington First Baptist Church, 100 South Main, Washington, Oklahoma 73093. Family will greet relatives and friends from 6-8p.m., Wednesday evening at Wilson-Little Funeral Home.