Cheryl Shead (née Jackson) passed away peacefully and surrounded by her family in Canton, Georgia on August 21st at the age of 78.

Cheryl was preceded in death by her daughter Christina Grove and son-in-law David Grove.  She is survived by her husband, Ralph Shead of Canton, Georgia; daughter Erica Wright, son-in-law Jason Wright, and grandchildren Tallulah and Crawford Wright of Woodstock, Georgia; granddaughter, Savannah Grove and son-in-law-to-be Blake Richardson of Canton, Georgia.

Cheryl was born on June 13th, 1946, in Atlanta, Georgia.  She graduated from Chamblee High School in 1964, then completed her bachelor's at Brenau University before achieving her Masters of Education from Walden University.  Back in high school, it was love at first sight when her mother, Mary Frances Jackson, chose the checkout line at the A&P that happened to have Ralph Shead as the bag boy.  Ralph had made a bet with his best friend that he could get a date with the beautiful girl first – his opening line was to Mary Frances saying, "Ma'am, one day I'm going to marry your daughter" – he got the date and, eventually, a wife.  Ralph, a former Sergeant E-5 for the United States Army, and Cheryl were married for fifty-eight years.  They had two beautiful daughters together, Christina Shead Grove and Erica Shead Wright, who gave them three incredible grandchildren who were the center of their Nanny's world.

While being "Nanny" was Cheryl's greatest joy, she also loved each of her students as her own during her tenure as a Special Education Teacher for Gwinnett County Schools before retiring in 2010.  Cheryl loved to work puzzles and had many for every season of the year; while her favorite puzzles were often the ones depicting cozy winter snowfall scenes, her most beloved season was autumn – the changing of leaves, spending weekends taking cabin trips in the North Georgia mountains, apple cider donuts from Mercier Orchards, soft sweaters and sweatshirts, a good book on a rainy day, and, on Sundays, cheering on her Atlanta Falcons with the most enthusiastic and colorful language anyone could imagine.  The Falcons were best watched with a bowl of her famous chili, always served with a side of colby cheese slices and peanut butter on ritz crackers.  Cheryl was a great cook – old fashioned Southern classics like buttermilk pie, biscuits and sausage gravy, peach cobbler, and comfort casseroles were her specialty.  Her mom, also known as Nanny to her children, thankfully passed down her secret Thanksgiving Dressing recipe through the generations and it will continue to be served at the Shead/Grove/Wright table for decades to come as Cheryl made hand-written cookbooks for each of her daughters.

A funeral is scheduled for Wednesday August 28th at Lakeside Funeral Home in Woodstock, Georgia – viewing & reception with the family will begin at 11am with service to follow at 12:30pm.  ­­­­­Rev. Paul McCabe of the Episcopal Church of the Annunciation will officiate the ceremony. Cheryl will be interred at Georgia National Cemetery at 2:30pm that afternoon, honoring her request of a final resting place in the same section as her daughter, Christina, and son-in-law, David.  All are welcome to attend and celebrate Cheryl's long and happy life. The family would like to thank the PCU and ICU teams at Northside Hospital Cherokee for their dedication and kindness