Cheryl Belcher Frakes

Cheryl Belcher Frakes was born in 1958 to Mrs. Patricia Belcher and the late Claude Charles Belcher, Jr. Cheryl, more affectionately known as “Gigi Gigi Gigi!” and “Ma”, was a one-of-a-kind person with an incredible sense of humor. She was a loyal employee to the Albany Herald for twenty years, but her true passion in life was her family. She was a wonderful mother to Lindsay and Haley, a beloved Gigi to Eleanor and Caroline, a beloved daughter, sister, mother-in-law, and friend. She loved classic rock and Cher, silly soap operas, and trashy reality shows. There are no words to capture the incredibly special person she was. She will be missed every day by the people who loved her. She hated obituaries that didn’t say what happened, so the family would like to let everyone know that she passed away from a severe complication of her COPD and emphysema. She was a longtime survivor of lung cancer and had eleven wonderful years of remission before her lung disease took her life. She was able to know and love her grandchildren and enjoy eleven years of life post-cancer. She was a miracle in so many ways and she fought until the very end of her life. Her lung cancer was a type that very few people survive, so her family is very grateful to have had as much time with her as they did. In addition to her farher, Cheryl was also preceded in death by her husband William "Bill" David Pearce who passed away on July 7, 2007. Cheryl is survived by her daughters, Lindsay Edwards (and her husband Matt) and Haley Kennedy (and her husband Michael), her mother Patricia Belcher, her granddaughters, Eleanor and Caroline, her sister, Vickie (and her husband David), niece Amanda (Chris) Huett, nephew, Chris Bashline, and several special cousins, nieces, and nephews. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Joseph W. Jones funeral home in Leesburg. A brief graveside service will be held Sunday, December 5th at 2 pm at the Leesburg Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the cemetery immediately following the service.