Obituary of Cheri Lou Strickland

Cheri McInturff Strickland of Blowing Rock, N.C. passed away July 1 at the age of 64. She is survived by her loving husband of 43 years, Durwood Kirby Strickland, three children, four grandchildren, a sister, a brother and a large extended family. Cheri was born in Bluefield, WV on July 24, 1955. She was the eldest child of the late Arthur Ramey McInturff, Jr. and Margaret Mahood McInturff. She graduated from Sanderson High School in Raleigh, NC in 1973 and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her work life included time as a newspaper journalist (Charlotte Weekly Newspapers), a public relations professional (Carowinds and freelance) vice president of Strickland & Company Advertising, Inc. and President of Explore Communications, Inc., a firm providing marketing services and consulting. Cheri is remembered by family and friends as a loving person who went out of her way to help others. She helped lead social ministry activities at Advent Lutheran Church in Charlotte, NC, where she and her family were members for many years. Cheri spent 16 years successfully coordinating the church's participation in the Room In The Inn program of the Charlotte Urban Ministry Center each winter, from December through March. She was also a long-time board member and past Chairman of the Charlotte CROP Walk, helping it become most successful Church World Service CROP Walk event in the nation at that time. After moving to Blowing Rock in 2017, she was a volunteer at the Listening Post at Appalachian State University, a program supported by the Presbyterian Episcopal Campus Ministry. She was a member of The Threshold Singers of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and volunteered serving meals at the Hospitality House in Boone through her home church, Grace Lutheran. While very involved in work and volunteer activities, Cheri's family was always the most important thing to her. She loved them all deeply and was greatly loved by them in return. In addition to her husband, Kirby, they include: son Patrick Robert Strickland, wife Lucy, and their children Julliette and Will of Boone, N.C.; son Joseph Gabriel Strickland, wife Gina, and their children Olive and Henry of Bristol, Tenn.; daughter Mary Faith Strickland and wife Kayla of Gastonia, N.C.; sister Leslie Shuff, niece Tiffany Morris and great-niece Desiree Hall of Concord, NC; and brother Arthur Ramey McInturff, III and wife Rebecca of Mint Hill, N.C. The family plans a private burial. A memorial service and celebration of Cheri's life will be held at a date and time to be announced later at Advent Lutheran Church in Charlotte, NC. Please send donations in memory of Cheri to the Urban Ministry Center of Charlotte, N.C. and/or the Hospitality House of Boone, N.C.