Cheryl Jean Radford May

Cheryl Jean Radford May, 64, of New Castle, passed away on Thursday, March 14, 2024, at her New Castle home, after a hard-fought battle against pancreatic cancer. She was born on December 14, 1959, in New Castle, the youngest child of the late James Welba Radford and Elsie Elva Brown Radford.

Cheryl attended Mooreland Elementary School, and then Blue River Valley Jr.-Sr. High School, from which she graduated in 1978. Cheryl earned a Bachelor of Science degree in special education from Ball State University in 1982; later, she also earned a Master of Arts degree in special education from Ball State in 1987.

Cheryl taught one year of special education at Morrison-Mock Elementary School in Muncie. She continued her career as a special educator with New Castle Community Schools. Cheryl taught in New Castle for 32 years, retiring in 2015 at age 55. For eighteen of those years, Cheryl was the Coordinator of Kids’ Corner, the special needs preschool program for the schools in the New Castle Special Education Cooperative.

Cheryl had a second working career, as a Student Mentor for Western Governor’s University, from January 2016 to February 2020, and also from October 2022 to February 2023. In this career she mentored students who were studying for Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in special education from WGU.

Cheryl served as an instructor for several undergraduate level courses in special education at Ball State. Cheryl also had a great interest in photography, and she had many photographs published by both the New Castle Courier Times and the Henry County News Republican. She ran summer camps for children with special needs for many years. Cheryl coached Special Olympics basketball teams with her friend John Hall, and one season their team won the state championship. Cheryl created many wonderful and lasting memories traveling with her siblings and their families, often to Daytona Beach and Disney World and Lake Webster, sometimes on long trips across the American West, and even to Niagara Falls and Hawaii.

Cheryl married Anthony Lee “Tony” May on July 22, 2001, at Mt. Summit Christian Church. Thus began a new chapter of life as wife and stepmother, and later as grandmother. They moved into their home at 212 South Broad Street in Mooreland, next door to the home of her parents, and lived there until January, 2020, when they moved to New Castle.

Cheryl was an active member of Mt. Summit Christian Church, where she was baptized on August 29, 2004. For several years she led the Worship and Wonder program for the younger children. She also volunteered to help supervise children in the Latchkey program.

Cheryl was a member of the East Central Indiana Walk to Emmaus Community. She was a pilgrim on ECI Women’s Walk 20, Table of Elizabeth. She served as a team member for many subsequent Walks, as a servant-in-action, prayer Angel, assistant table leader, and table leader.

In her retirement years, Cheryl enjoyed reading historical fiction, playing Wordle and similar games, playing with her cats, talking with her sister Donna via FaceTime, making crafts, spending as much time as possible with her granddaughter Arya, and going out to lunch with a group of former work colleagues known as the “Crazy Daisies.”

Cheryl was a true cancer warrior. Her first victory over cancer was in 1993, against thyroid cancer. This was followed by victories in 2012 over acute promyelocitic leukemia, and in 2017 over stomach cancer. Each time she faced her challenges head on with a rare combination of courage, grace, and good humor. She was an inspiration to many. Her final battle with cancer began in February 2023, when she was diagnosed with stage 3 pancreatic cancer.

In addition to her parents, Cheryl was preceded in death by her grandparents, James M. Brown, Effie Lee Brown, Travis Radford, Ola Vincent Radford; aunts and uncles, Howard (Bercie) Brown, Alma Lee Brown, Ava (Robert) Hunter, Laura (Charles) Haysley, Pauline (John) Lowhorn, Payton (Eliza) Radford, Lester (Frances) Radford, Sr., Russell Radford; cousin, Adam Thrasher; brothers-in-law, Fred Peacock and Thomas May; sister-in-law, Lucretia Louise Peacock.

Cheryl is survived by her husband, Anthony “Tony” May; stepchildren, Elizabeth (Brian) Schaefer and Patrick May; step grandchildren, Jesse Schaefer and Arya May; father-in-law and mother-in-law, Charles May and Lucretia Peacock-May; siblings, Donna Carnes, Ron (Melody) Radford, Darrel (Becky) Radford; sisters-in-law, Paula (Scott) Campbell, Suzanna (Mike) Carpenter; nieces and nephews, Nick Carnes, Meggan (Josh) Brumbaugh, Jill Radford, Molly (Adam) Dobis, Derek Radford, Larry (Marissa) Peacock, Lauren (Pam) Zirkle, Paul-Michael Carpenter, Jordan (Clay) Ritorto, Adam Campbell (Kaela Weir); grandnieces and grandnephews, Katie Carnes, Haidyn Brumbaugh, Tessa Brumbaugh, Cole Brumbaugh, Claire Dobis, Hallie Dobis, Nolen Peacock, Teddy Peacock, Addyson Ritorto, Allie Marie Carpenter, Charlie Paul Carpenter; many cousins, including Rev. Phil (Chris) Brown, Danny Brown, Marie (Jimmy) Thrasher, Betsy (Donny) Collins, and many others; “adopted niece” Erin (Matt) Eberly and children Kaine and Tatum; Tony’s close family, aunt Marcella Andrews, cousins Julie (Jeff) Nelson, Cameron (Kristen) Nelson, Conner (Sami) Nelson, Skylar Nelson; Tony’s “kids of the heart,” Amanda Giddings, Trevor (Rachel) Giddings, Julia (Matthias) Breuninger and their children Emil, Hanna, and Lotte, Cecile Isquierdo (Stephane Lejay) and their children Camille and Isaac, Megan (Dustin) Allen and son Jack; Katie’s mother, Heather Carnes; Arya’s mother, Maya Bishop; Skylar’s mother, Nicole Tuscan; many, many friends.

Cheryl had many pet cats over the decades. She loved her cats very much. Among those who have already crossed the rainbow bridge were RC, Benjamin, Smoky, Rocky, Clyde, Sebastian, Crosby, and Cookie. Surviving her are Clara and Lily.

Tony and the family thank the many doctors, nurses, and technicians who gave her excellent medical care during her final fight with cancer, especially primary care physician Dr. Steven Miller of Henry Community Health; surgeon Dr. Michael House and oncologist Dr. Paul Helft, both of Indiana University Hospital, Indianapolis; and the nurses and staff of Guardian Angel Hospice of Kokomo.

Services will be held at 10:30 A.M. Tuesday, March19, 2024 at the Mt. Summit Christian Church with Rev. Justin Schwartz and Darrel Radford officiating. Burial will follow in Mooreland Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 8:00 P.M. Monday at at Hinsey-Brown Funeral Service in New Castle and one hour prior to the service at the church. You may offer condolences or share a memory of Cheryl at www.hinsey-brown.com .
You may view the service via live stream at www.youtube.com/@msccdisciples

In lieu of flowers, Tony and the family ask that gifts of support be directed in Cheryl’s memory to young families who have been fighting against cancer in recent months, in particular the families of Kacie Houser and Nathan Schmidt. For those who would wish to offer donations in Cheryl’s memory to organizations, Tony and the family suggest the following: Mt. Summit Christian Church, P.O. Box 310, Mt. Summit, IN 47361; BRV Dollars for Scholars, P.O. Box 233, Mt. Summit, IN 47361; Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 1500 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 200, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266.