Charles N. "Chuck" Cherry Obituary (1924

Charles N. “Chuck” Cherry, Sr., 100, Normal, passed away October 3, 2024. Mr. Cherry was born January 28, 1924, on a farm near Herrick, Illinois, a son of James H. Cherry and Clara Simpson Cherry. He married Joyce Moore, his high school sweetheart, on September 14, 1946, in Champaign, Illinois. She passed away November 20, 1999. His inurnment will be next to his beloved Joyce at East Lawn Memorial Gardens, Bloomington. His survivors include their two sons, Thomas E. Cherry, rural Carlock, and Charles N. (Carla) Cherry, Jr., Bloomington; two grandsons, John (Annette) Cherry, rural Hudson, and Michael Cherry, rural Carlock; five great-grandchildren, Laura Cherry, Jack Cherry, James Cherry, Sarah Cherry, and Julia Cherry, all of rural Hudson; and several nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death were his wife, parents, two brothers, three sisters, daughter-in-law Debra (Charles Jr.) Cherry, a very dear friend, Doris Moore, Decatur, and “the best mentor ever”, State Farm’s Paul Mitzner. Mr. Cherry served with the 15th Army Air Force in Italy during World War II as the nose turret gunner on a B-24 bomber crew. He flew on 28 air combat missions over Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe before being shot down over Linz, Austria on the last one. He was a retired Captain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. After leaving the military in October 1945, he received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and later was employed by the University in the Air Force Training Research Laboratory there. He was a Life Member of the American Psychological Association, the University of Illinois Presidents Council, and the University of Illinois Alumni Association. Mr. Cherry joined the State Farm Insurance Companies’ Bloomington based General Personnel Department (now Human Resources) in 1953. He was named manager of its newly organized Management Development Division in 1972. He retired in 1985. Over these 32 years the Companies were growing and expanding rapidly, from 7 regional offices to 25, which placed heavy demands on their staffing needs for supervisory and managerial talent. Devoted to State Farm and working with the corporate departments and regional offices, he played a central staff role in establishing and coordinating a wide range of management growth and development practices. These included employing selected, mobile management development trainees in each region to help build the pool of candidates, internal job posting, a job performance-by-objectives planning and review program for all employees, and a regional nomination/corporate review process to identify and promote the higher qualified candidates to management positions as needed in the growing network of regional offices. Other supporting practices included a local university-based professional management consultant for each region, corporate department executive briefings, and conferences covering company posture on contemporary issues of the day. He was also editor of “OPERATION UNDERSTANDING,” an all-management publication. Highly regarded for his cordial manner, sound staff work and counsel, integrity, and ability to read people and the State Farm culture, he was warmly called “Mr. Management Development.” In his early retirement, he and Joyce traveled widely in the United States, along with several trips to Europe, Hawaii and Canada. But in his later years he most enjoyed a quiet life at home with his beloved family, close personal friends, his daily newspapers, and a good biography. And cheering on the Fighting Illini, the Chicago Bears, and the St. Louis Cardinals! A private family graveside service will be held, but at his request there will be no public services. He was deeply grateful for his loving family and his special friends and associates, and he wanted them to remember him in life. Please view the obituary and share your condolences and memories online at www.calvertmemorial.com