Cheryl McElroy

Cheryl Kaye McElroy, 78, devoted wife, mother, and friend, passed away on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at home in Decatur, Illinois.

A service to honor Cheryl’s life will be held at 12PM on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at Calvert & Wikoff in Mt. Zion; the family will receive friends for a time of visitation two hours prior to the service. Cheryl will be laid to rest in Mt. Zion Township Cemetery, Mt. Zion, Illinois. Memorials may be made to the Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois
Charitable Fund at the Heart of Illinois Community Foundation.

Cheryl was born in Macon County on February 1, 1947 to Delbert B. Emrick and Katherine I. (Peel) Emrick. She graduated from MacArthur High School in 1965.
She married Earl M. Gray, Jr. on September 13, 1968. Together they had a daughter, Leanna, and she became a stepmother to his seven children. He passed away in 2007.
She found love later in life with Michael E. McElroy of Decatur, and they were married on March 15, 2019, and she gained two stepsons.

Cheryl was a Medical Staff Coordinator for 34 years before she retired in 2018, with time in that role spent first at St. Mary’s Hospital and later at Decatur Memorial Hospital. She was a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Cheryl loved to golf, to dance, to sing, to laugh, and to enjoy a good meal with wonderful friends. She loved her family and friends fiercely and wanted to be there for them in their happiest and hardest moments. She was devoted to her daughter, Leanna and her family and never missed an important moment or the chance to spend time with them. Despite her declining health in the last year, Cheryl was determined to make the most
of the time she had left by enjoying life and her family and friends.

Cheryl is survived by her husband, Michael E. McElroy of Decatur, her daughter Leanna (Brett) Giltmier of West Lafayette, Indiana, and their children, Andrew, Megan, and Nicholas Giltmier; her family with Michael, Mitchell McElroy of Decatur and Timothee (Rachel) McElroy of Kankakee, and granddaughters, Leah and Tessa; her family with Earl, daughter-in-law Lori Gray of Columbus, GA, and two grandchildren, Cynthia Denny of Nashville, TN and two grandchildren; Earl “Monty” (Emily) Gray III and two granddaughters, Christopher (Vicki) Gray of Macon and three grandsons, Susan (Al) Derhak of Mt. Zion and one granddaughter, Lisa Hanks of Decatur and four grandchildren, and Teresa Ross of Decatur and two granddaughters, and many great-grandchildren; her sister, Linda Smith of Decatur, her brother Gary Foster of Crown Point, Indiana, several beloved nieces and nephews, and many friends who were like family.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother John Foster and sister-in-law Annie Foster, Earl’s son Michael Gray, and granddaughter Michelle O’Hara.