William Cherry spent 30 years working for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but was part of a team that developed and studied much more than bacteria or diseases.
Cherry began his career at the CDC in 1951, and in 1965 he was asked to serve on a special task force. He was relieved of all regular duties for two weeks, said daughter Anne Cherry.
His job: develop tests for specimens brought back from the moon.
“His job was to develop the tests that would be used to figure out whether there was life on the things that came back from the moon and to test whether anything was dangerous or not,” Anne Cherry said.
Born in Bowling Green, Ky., Cherry earned a B.A. in chemistry from Western Kentucky University, an M.A. in bacteriology from the University of Kentucky and a Ph.D. in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin, all within a 12-year span.
His passion for science, however, was apparent before he received any degree. While majoring in chemistry, Cherry said he and his sister became orphans early on, and he stayed in Bowling Green to help her through college.
Later he took a post-graduate course in bacteriology and never looked back.
While at the CDC, Cherry also focused on identifying biological warfare agents so troops in the field could understand what they might be dealing with.
Cherry also wanted to help in ways beyond bacteriology.
“Although he wasn’t working on HIV, he studied it and he decided to take a course in nursing so he was allowed to deliver meals to people who had AIDS,” Anne Cherry said. “Most people back then wouldn’t do that and were afraid of contracting it. That was his way of typically approaching problems.”
William Bailey Cherry, 97, died Nov. 6 from a lung infection at the Sunrise at Five Forks senior living center in Lilburn. A memorial gathering will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta. Wages and Sons Funeral Home and Crematories was in charge of cremation services and arrangements.
Even away from the lab, Cherry would talk about science: at the dinner table, for example, said his son, Bill Cherry.
"We always had a family dinner and both he and my mother were bacteriologists," Cherry said. "We had very scientific dinner's sometimes. If I wanted the salt, you had to know that it was sodium chloride, that sort of thing."
Through the years, Cherry said his father became well known in the CDC, and, “He had opportunities to have higher positions, but he just wanted to remain in the laboratory division doing actual work.”
Science wasn’t the only passion he brought home. Gardening was also a priority for Cherry. His daughter said he would constantly have a large crop of fruits and vegetables to share and enjoy.
“He always had a huge vegetable garden and an orchard and worked very hard to produce food,” Cherry said. “I remember one year we picked 90 quarts of strawberries.”
Aside from his daughter and son, Cherry is survived by his wife, Edith Cherry of Lilburn; his stepdaughter, Linda Donahoo of Snellville; his stepson, Mac Davis of Belaire, Calif., and three grandchildren.
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