Cherie (Hunt) Range, 77, of North Waterford, passed away in peace and with no regrets on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at the Maine Veterans Home under the care of Androscoggin Hospice. In the end, she had the good fortune to look back on her many years here and to tie up the loose strands of a life well lived. She got to spend time with and say goodbye to all her loving family and friends. On her last weekend, surrounded by her devoted husband, Ed and her family members, she asked that they serenade her with her favorite songs, ranging from Amazing Grace to the family jukebox of 45-rpm special songs, smiling and enjoying it, as she directed them like a bed-bound glee club leader.

The oldest of Theresa and Clarence Hunt’s 10 children and named Cheryl at birth, she later preferred the more friendly sounding “Cherie,” which is how she was known from then on. After graduating from Casco High School, she pursued a 33-year-long career as an agent with United Airlines, working in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Virginia and adding lasting, special friendships along the way. She retired in January 2002, a few months after 9/11.

Along the way, Cherie met and married Ed, the love of her life for 43 years. They indulged their travel bug during and after Cherie’s years with United, managing to visit a variety of destinations on seven continents — a personal best — again making lifelong friends wherever they journeyed.

Cherie freely lent her time to causes she was close to. An animal lover, she helped rescue sea turtles and volunteered at an aquarium in North Carolina, the state where she and Ed retired to. They were the loving dog parents of Brandy and Toby. In the end, she was comforted by that rascal Bentley, a loyal dachshund mix, who camped out at the foot of her hospice bed, doing his best to cheer her up with a tail wag and a sympathetic look with his brown eyes.

As a people lover, Cherie volunteered at the food pantry and Christmas Cheer for the Methodist Church, and at a thrift store for battered and abused women, all in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. She was also active in the garden club there. During winters in Florida, she volunteered her time at hospitals and hospice. During the summers, she and Ed worked as hosts at campgrounds in Maine, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. Even though many years had passed since graduation, Cherie always made it a point to stay in touch with her former classmates, faithfully joining the Class of 1965 for the annual summer reunions on Hacker’s Hill in Casco.

Although she and Ed had no children of their own, Cherie was a loving aunt to her many nieces and nephews, always remembering birthdays and other significant events in their lives. Another of Cherie’s passions was shopping, whether in person or online, which she indulged in to the end, when she ordered and received a collection of clip-on earrings from Amazon, a company whose stock will surely dip significantly without her support.

Those who really knew Cherie were tickled by her dry sense of humor, which she surely inherited from her mother and her Aunt Lorraine and remarkably held onto even as her health declined. When loved ones look back on Cherie’s life, they will recall her self-deprecating humor and her comical take on the passing parade of life.

Cherie is survived by her husband, Ed; her sisters, Brenda, Judy, Cathy, Donna, Lori, and Kim; brothers, Bruce and Wade; and by her extended loving and supportive family of brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and many, many nieces, nephews, cousins, and precious friends.

In her 77 years, through her genuine love of life, especially people, Cherie’s light shone brightly on all those lucky enough to have been in her orbit. She will be missed terribly, but we’ll forever reserve a special place in our hearts for this delightful, kind, and wonderful woman who touched all of our lives in a special way.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either the Salvation Army or Androscoggin Home Healthcare and Hospice, 15 Strawberry Ave., Lewiston, Me 04240. 

A Celebration of Life will be held later this spring.