Mary Williams Cheek

After a long, happy, and eventful life of 103 years, Mary Ruth Williams Cheek passed away peacefully going from the loving arms of her family into the loving embrace of Our Savior on February 7, 2026. On September 19, 1922, in Tarrant, Alabama, Kate and Asa Williams had their second child, a daughter, Mary Ruth.

Mary spent her early years in rural Alabama with her three brothers and a sister: Virgil, Ace, Charlie, and Sue. In 1942, she was visiting a dear friend and matchmaker, Virginia Cheek, when she met the love of her life – a supremely handsome and charming submarine sailor named Bill Cheek. While they were engaged, Mary worked several jobs for the war effort including working as an inspector in the steel mills in Birmingham. Of course, Mary and Bill couldn’t just go to the courthouse to get married in January of 1944, they decided to have the ceremony performed by Bill’s uncle, who was a Justice of the Peace. They picked up the marriage license and headed, in a borrowed car, from Birmingham to Short Creek. As often happens in a borrowed car, they had car trouble on the drive, so they arrived at Uncle Jesse’s house well after midnight. Uncle Jesse came to the door, agreed to marry the young couple, and brought them into his bedroom, where his wife was in bed. Mary and Bill were married in front of the fireplace in Uncle Jesse’s bedroom. And so, began a 56-year adventure that included 15 years of traveling with Bill to almost everywhere in the United States where submarines were ported. After WW II, they were stationed in beautiful Hawaii, where they welcomed their daughter, Susan. Their adventures continued in California, Maine, and Pennsylvania, but their favorite port was Key West, where they were overjoyed to welcome their son, Jeff. After Bill’s retirement from the Navy in 1959, they settled in Pascagoula, Mississippi, an idyllic place to raise two children. Mary was a homemaker who did volunteer work with Eastlawn Elementary PTA, the Homemaker’s Club, and Garden Club.

As the children grew-up, Mary took various art and tailoring/sewing classes, but she yearned for more. She was born to be a teacher and with her family’s blessing, at the age of 44, she entered Jackson County Junior College (Harvard on the Highway) as a freshman in the fall of 1965. Mary was a proud alumna of the first graduating class of Jackson County Junior College in May, 1967. She then attended and graduated from the University of South Alabama with a BS in Elementary Education in 1970. She began a successful career as a teacher, working at Our Lady of Victories, Eastlawn, and Arlington. Mary’s 6-foot height earned her the CB handle, Tall Teacher. After teaching for several years, she then became the Coordinator of Title 1 aides for the Pascagoula School District. During her retirement, Mary volunteered at local schools, nursing homes, and Singing River Hospital Auxiliary, but she never lost an opportunity to teach the right way to do things – to her children, grandchildren, great-grands, as well as store clerks, waitresses, drivers, and anyone else with whom she came in contact. Her hobbies included gardening, needlework, reading, crafting, and traveling, but her main hobby was making lifelong friendships.

She remained in contact with many friends until the time of her death. Mary was the life of the party at any gathering she attended, with a zest for life that remained until the end of her life. She could out-work many people much younger than she. Mary was an excellent seamstress, making business suits for her daughter, wedding dresses for her granddaughters, and Easter dresses for her daughter, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters. She was active in Subvettes, the auxiliary for SubVets of World War II and SubVets Inc., enjoying the friendship and camaraderie of others who lived the submariner’s life. Active and healthy until her last year, Mary was rarely found sitting in an easy chair; she worked in her yard, cooked, sewed, traveled, and visited her children, grands and great-grands, as well as relatives in Tarrant, Clanton, Alaska and even Costa Rica. She often wondered why God left her here after so many of her relatives and friends had passed on, but her family knows the reason - she had not finished her job; she had more lessons to teach! 

Mary was preceded in death by her husband, William J. Cheek; father and mother Asa and Kate Williams; brothers, Virgil Williams and Charles Williams, her brother and sister-in-law Asa and Margene Williams; sister and brother-in-law, Sue and Vernon Hall; brother-in-law and sister-in law Gurlyn and Virginia Cheeks; brother-in-law and sister-in law Curtis and Bea Cheek; nephews, Clarence and Alex Cheeks; and niece Venira Payton. In addition, deceased friends who were cherished members of her family included Buddy and Carolyn Smith, Sonny and Fay Wiley, Bob Hayes, Ray Christian, and Clarabelle Dalton.

Mary is survived by her daughter, Susan McLaurin (Robert); her son, Jeff Cheek (Pat); her grandchildren Kate Wright (Charlie), Mary Zedler (Kevin), Scott Cheek (Autumn), Ben Cheek (Kimi), and Rosa Turkington (Jaron); great-grandchildren Katey Beth, Maggey Claire, and Lilley Grace Zedler; Titus Cheek; Finn, Sadie, and Brody Cheek; and Layla, Gracie, Milo, and Indie Turkington; as well as sister-in-law, Jeini Williams; nieces Debbie Hall, Terri Murphy (Todd), Sandra Parrish (Tom), Melissa McLemore (Alan), Maria Willis (Kent), Kate Akin (Judson), Ruby Cheeks, Sarah Smith; and nephews Johnny Hall (Shirley) and Harrell Cheek (Retta), as well as many great-nieces and nephews;  her honorary great-granddaughter Rayna Adcock; her neighborhood family the Wileys - Dean, Jerry, Debbie, Susie, and Alan; and her children of the heart the Smiths - Kim, Guice, and Renee.

Mary was a member of Citronelle Methodist Church, where she was baptized at the age of 89. She loved attending this church whenever she could, especially enjoying the Fellowship Luncheons. She often claimed the honor of being the oldest mother attending the church on Mother’s Day. The family would like to offer their heartfelt gratitude to Kate and Charlie Wright, who became Mary’s caregivers and companions for several years; the many faithful SubVets and Subvettes (her second family), who visited and kept in touch- Herb and Camilla, Jim, Phil, Harve and Gail, Jane, Deidre, Steve and Debbie; as well as the wonderful staff from Southern Care Hospice Services.

Visitation will begin on Friday, February 20, 2026 at 10:30 a.m.-11:30a.m. at O’Bryant O’Keefe Funeral Home in Pascagoula with a memorial service following.  Committal will be at 1:30 p.m. at Biloxi National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in memory of Mary to Citronelle Methodist Church Food Bank, P O Box 125, Citronelle. AL 36522 or Saraland Woman’s Club Scholarship Fund, 216 US 43, Saraland AL 36571

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