Ruby Eggen Cherry

   A beautiful life filled with love, strength, resilience, courage, and faith. On July 16, 2022, Ruby Margaret Eggen Cherry took God's hand and followed Him home. The loving arms of her mother, Doris Anderson Eggen, her father, Rudolph Eggen, loving husband, William Welton Cherry, infant son, William, and beloved brother, Robert Eggen, welcomed her into Heaven.

   Her memories will remain with her beloved daughters, Virginia Arlene Cherry Ribeiro, and Lureen Elizabeth Cherry Williams (Tom). She held a special place in her heart for all her grandchildren, Robert Wayne Kephart (Paris), Luke William Small, Katherine Elizabeth Rucker (Michael), William “Ray-Ray” Harrell (Marcie), Brock Creel Cherry Williams, and her great-grandchildren, William Michael Rucker, Emily Caroline Rucker, Ethen Jones Rucker, Severin Dean Kephart, Dallas Zackary Kephart, Clayton Ray Harrell, Ruby Rae Small, Lillie Mae Williams, Melanie Ruth Forward. She was blessed to have two wonderful sisters, Donna Krause and Carol Duffy, that were a pillar of strength through the years. A smile was always brought to her face when her many nieces and nephews were around.

   Ruby’s life began on March 8, 1943, on a dairy farm in rural North Dakota where she often told stories of milking cows before going to school. The memories of her early childhood were endless, as she shared with her family how life used to be in the early days. She graduated from nursing school in 1963 and began a career that would last for 57 years. She moved to Norfolk, Virginia, and worked at Norfolk General Hospital in the emergency room, where she meets her husband, Williams Welton Cherry, a detective at the Norfolk Police Department. They began their life on Fleetwood Ave and welcomed their first daughter, Arlene, with their second daughter, Lureen, arriving only sixteen months later, and a few years later, Ruby and Welton would welcome a son, William, whose arrival came too early, and God called him back home.

   A new home in Chesapeake, Virginia brought peace and happiness, and a later move to Edenton, North Carolina. It was in Edenton and her job as a nurse in the emergency room at Chowan Hospital, that would bring her wonderful stories and friendships which she would carry with her through the years. This move was her last remaining years, with her husband, Welton. After 15 years of marriage, he was called home to Heaven and she relocated to Greenville, North Carolina. This move allowed her to find a perfect home to finish out her nursing career with C.E.M.A Medical Center. She remained for twenty-eight years with Dr. George Kline and his wife, MaryAnn, which she always considered family.

   In her later years, she was able to spend more time vacationing and visiting with her family, both in North Carolina and North Dakota, where many wonderful memories were made at the ocean in the Outer Banks, and playing cards with her brother and sisters from North Dakota. These moments offered many laughs and great stories to be told for many generations to come.

   In her last years, she moved to Hertford, North Carolina to be closer to her daughters and their families, finding the comfort she needed to face the challenges that she had in her courageous battle with cancer. She fought like the true Scandinavian Viking she was, giving her loved ones the last lesson in love, courage, resilience, strength, and faith, as she persevered through these difficult years. We as her family, believe she did not lose this battle with cancer but won this courageous fight when God took her hand and lead her home.

Mother is a Word Called Love

Mother is a word called Love

And all the world is mindful of

The love that’s given and shown to others

Is different from The Love of Mothers…

For Mothers play the leading roles

In giving birth to little souls,

For though “small souls” are heaven-sent

And we realize they’re only lent

It takes a Mother’s loving hands

And her gentle heart that understands

To mold and shape this little life

And shelter it through storm and strife…

No other love than Mothers Love

Could do the things required of

The one to whom God gives the keeping

Of His wee lambs, awake or sleeping, -

So, Mothers are a “special race”

God sent to earth to take His place,

And Mother is a lovely name

That even Saints are proud to claim.

   We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to the wonderful physicians and their devoted staff at Dr. Maria Picton's office, Dr. Billy Smith, Dr. Robert Dietrich, her dear friends at Vitality Health and Wellness, Vidant Hospital's Oncology and Radiology Department, and Dr. Hnatov, for all the care, kindness and compassion our mother received. Her last few weeks were spent at Sentara Albemarle Medical Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina with an incredibly loving and caring group of doctors and nurses. We are forever grateful to all of you.

   A memorial service will be held Tuesday, July 26 at 3:00 p.m. in the Miller & Van Essendelft Funeral Chapel, 1125 Harvey Point Road, Hertford, and will be conducted by Pastor Gene Tyson. Friends may visit with the family in the funeral home immediately following the services.

   Online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.