Last year, Macon County lost a dedicated law officer when Sgt. William Cherry was killed by a drunk driver in a head-on collision while on duty. Through the pain of losing her husband, Aletheia Fox Cherry has created a scholarship in his name as a way of honoring and remembering him.
“I just wanted to keep his memory alive,” said Cherry. “This is also a way to give back to the community. William was truly one of the good ones. Although the scholarship covers the entire state of Tennessee, I’d like to find people local to Clay and Macon counties, if possible.”
Cherry says the application can be found by scanning the code in the form found in this article.
“The form has a scan code and that takes you to Bold.org,” said Cherry. “If they can’t scan they can just search online for Bold.org. The link will take interested parties to the application form. I want to do two scholarships each for $1,000 — one for the younger people starting out in a career in law enforcement, and one for someone older that may want to change their direction in life, kind of how William did.”
The deadline for applying is in August and Cherry says the announcement will follow a few weeks after that.
“The deadline for applying is Aug. 15, 2024, said Cherry. “After the deadline, myself and a panel will go through the applicants and choose two that best fits what we are looking for. We are very excited to award the deserving applicants and to see where their journey takes them. We intend to do this every year as long as we can, as well as start something for younger children as well, because William loved children.”
Cherry says that honoring her late husband’s memory is something that so many others do as well.
“I’ve had people from all over send me cards, quilts and other things,” said Cherry. “I have even had people contact me that William had arrested for one thing or another in the past, and they told me that he had treated them with respect and dignity and just wanted me to know that they were moved by that. It doesn’t surprise me, though. He wore his badge with honor and integrity.”
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