Cheryl Sundbeck

Cheryl Sundbeck, age 80, died Wednesday, November 5, at her home at Old Waverly in West Point, following a short but intense battle with cancer. She was born on April 20, 1945, to Joyce Loureva Armer and Joseph Louis Messer, Jr. in Kansas City, Mo. She moved to Austin, Texas as a teenager with her mother and stepfather, William Lobb, graduating from McCallum High School in 1963. She attended Amarillo Community College in Amarillo, Texas, and spent her working life as a bookkeeper and secretary.

She moved to West Point in 1982 and became an active member of the community and the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation. She served on the boards of North Mississippi Medical Center-West Point and Dugan Memorial Home for several terms, where she was known for asking hard questions and speaking her mind! She served as chairperson of West Point’s Main Street Association, treasurer of the Junior Auxiliary, president and secretary of the Old Waverly Home & Garden Club and was Community Counseling’s 2007 Volunteer of the Year. She was a Master Gardener. She served her church as Senior Warden and treasurer, sang in the choir, was linens chairperson for many years for the altar guild, washing and ironing the altar linens weekly. She served as president and treasurer of the Episcopal Church Women and co-chaired the church’s Prairie Arts Festival’s outreach project Kidsville. By far her favorite roles in life were grandmother and great-grandmother, channeling the love and affection she received from her own grandmothers early in life. She was present for every recital, game, horse show and life event possible, rain or shine, burning hot or freezing cold. Her last years were especially sweet with great-granddaughters trekking between their home and hers in pursuit of apples and suckers. Cheryl loved creating a beautiful home and garden and had impeccable taste and a green thumb. She loved traveling to the North Carolina mountains with her dear friend Jackie Edwards and later Seagrove Beach, Fla. with her “Susans” — Susan Chandler, Susan Portera, and Souzen Steelhammer. Her book club at Old Waverly gave her much to look forward to, and she loved hosting its members in her home. She loved a glass of crisp white wine, a fine dirty martini, and a good joke. She may have passed on those passions to her grandchildren! She was incredibly well-read, an ace speller, and a wiz at Jeopardy and crossword puzzles.

Preceded in death by her parents and stepfather, she is survived by her daughter Kristen Stevens, her son-in-law Joe Stevens; her grandchildren, Daniel Sundbeck, Anne Sutherland (Will), Sally Colbert (Jacob), Jeb Stevens (Laura Brantley), Sam Sundbeck and John Willis Stevens (Ellie); great-granddaughters Betty Anne, Emma and Daisy Sutherland; brothers Kirk (Madge) and Gregory Lobb; and her beloved Boykin Spaniel Coco.

Her family would like to thank Dr. Ned Miller and the team of caregivers who loved and cared for her in her final days, Christine Ewing, Makella Ewing, Karen Bell, Aaliyah Strong, Maquita Trimble and Qualeika Gillespie.

Should you wish to honor her with a memorial, she was especially fond of her church, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, and the West Point/Clay County Animal Shelter.

Her Memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, November 10, at the Episcopal Church of the Incarnation, with the Reverend Karl Schaffenburg officiating. A reception will follow in the church’s Parish Hall.