Leo Cheek

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Mr. Leo Cheek, age 89, of Roaring River passed away Monday, April 15, 2024, at his home.

Funeral services will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, April 19, 2024, at Pleasant Home Baptist Church with Pastor Danny Bauguess and Pastor Nick Cheek officiating. The family will receive friends from 12:30-1:30 PM prior to the service at the church. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Leo was born on November 15, 1934, in Wilkes County to James Wesley and Annis Jolly Cheek. He married Arlene Parks in 1956 and they raised two sons, Neal, and Mark. Leo earned a living as owner and operator of a country store and gas station, and was a farmer for many years, raising cows and chickens and growing vegetables. Even into his late 80s and up until the day he died, Leo tended to his garden and took pride in caring for the land that surrounded his home. When family and friends visited, they’d often gather at the backyard swing to enjoy the outdoors.

Under Leo’s care the garden thrived – there was always something tasty growing – and he enjoyed sharing his harvest with friends and family. When anyone visited, he’d often send them off with a bag of potatoes or a pound of broccoli. In addition to his veggies, Leo enjoyed baking a wide variety of desserts. He’d make time-tested favorites and tried new recipes he came across in magazines and cookbooks. When you ate a meal at Leo’s, you knew a too-big slice of pie would be cut and placed at your seat, before you’d even asked for dessert.

Church and community were important to Leo, and he maintained strong connections in the town where he was born and raised. His friends and family knew him as an easygoing and hardworking person, who was sometimes quiet and serious, and always full of jokey sayings. He was a member of Pleasant Home Baptist Church where he sang in the choir for many years. Leo and Arlene were some of the church’s most dedicated volunteers, faithfully cleaning the church and keeping up the cemetery. 

In addition to his parents, Leo was preceded in death by five sisters: Leta Cheek, Bernice Wood, Peda Cheek, Luna Cheek, and Frankie Cheek; and eight brothers: Arnold Cheek, Quincey Cheek, Culver Cheek, Garvey Cheek, Dewitt Cheek, Kenneth Cheek, Jackie Cheek, and Archie Cheek.

Leo is survived by his wife, Arlene Parks Cheek of the home; two sons, Neal Cheek (Sharon) of Mocksville and Mark Cheek of Roaring River; five grandchildren, Meridith Whitaker (Will), Dylan Cheek, Kaitlyn Cheek, Joel Cheek, and Myah Cheek; and two great grandchildren, Rhys Whitaker, and Quinn Whitaker.

Leo’s life was not absent from hardships; a long life means that he inevitably saw much loss. But on the whole, Leo’s story is the one that most of us can only hope for. To live into old age at home, capable and independent, while continuing to do the things that bring us joy each day. To remain close with our children and grandchildren; to receive calls and visits from our friends; to sing and cook and create. To gaze outside, knowing that the work of our hands made a difference on the earth that day, and then to sit and rest. It’s a story of all of the best things.

Flowers will be accepted, or memorials may be made to Pleasant Home Cemetery Fund, 162 Byrd Road, Roaring River, NC 28669. Online condolences may be made to www.reinssturdivant.com.

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