Cherie Marie Albert

Cherie Marie Thomas Albert was reunited in heaven with Jesus, her husband Barry and son Johnny on November 24, 2024. A celebration of her life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on January 4, 2025, at Coles Garden, 1415 NE 63rd St, Oklahoma City, OK 73111, in respect to her lifelong love of God’s creation through gardens, trees, flowers and all things in nature. A receiving of family and friends will be held immediately following the service.

Cherie was born on January 8, 1937, in Mesa, Arizona, to Victor Albert Thomas and Eunice Gumley Thomas. She had four siblings, William Thomas, Dorothy Thomas Jacobs, Peggy Thomas Tyler and Phillip Thomas. She was raised in San Diego, California, and enjoyed synchronized swimming (and Ester Williams movies) and the life of a teenager at the beautiful southern California beaches. She attended post-high school business courses and was employed as a buyer/purchasing agent of women’s clothing lines for the Jordan Marsh (now Macy’s) department stores.

In 1957, on a dare from her older sister Dotty, she went on a date with Barry who was stationed at Camp Pendleton as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. They dated while he was in California, and then by letter communications after he was discharged from the service and returned to Oklahoma. Barry proposed to Cherie in a letter and sent the engagement ring to her in the mail. She accepted and they were married on December 21, 1958, in San Diego with a honeymoon at the Surf and Sand Hotel in Laguna Beach, California. On their return to Oklahoma, Cherie saw snow for the first time as they drove through the Texas panhandle. She often joked that she wondered what she had gotten herself into as she looked at the heavily falling snow through the darkness of the night as she rode to Oklahoma.

While Barry attended college and then law school at the University of Oklahoma and worked parttime at Humpty Dumpty Grocery Store, Cherie took care of Barry’s Dad, Fred Albert Senior, who had serious healthcare needs. She was a terrific cook and caregiver. She made a home out of a garage apartment behind his home. Barry and Cherie started their family while in the apartment. 

Barry and Cherie were blessed with five children, Phil Albert, Vic Albert, Bill Albert, Johnny Albert and Susan Albert Barrick. Cherie worked to provide a wonderful and loving home for the family. In 1974, Cherie began work at Stone’s Grocery Store in Shepherd Mall as the customer service representative and supervisor of the checker-attendants. She later worked as a customer sales representative at Kay-Bee Toys. In 1990, Cherie began her most fun job working as a customer service and sales representative for the Hallmark store in downtown Oklahoma City. She later worked in the same role at the Hallmark store at Penn Square Mall. One of her favorite things in life was getting to know her customers and helping them to find the perfect gift, card or knickknack for any occasion. She loved to decorate her home for every holiday, and as she unpacked many boxes of decorations for the next-approaching holiday, her fun motto became “You can take the lady out of Hallmark, but you can’t take the Hallmark out of the lady!”

Cherie had a talent and zest for making everything she did look beautiful, from her holiday cakes and birthday cupcakes, to presents wrapped perfectly for any occasion, to her home with framed photos of each child, grandchild and great-grandchild, to her garden and yard with the just-right seasonal flowers and decorations, to her personal appearance always festively touched off with a pretty scarf and pin just right for whatever she was doing or wherever she was going.

Cherie adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and cherished welcoming every baby into the family. She looked forward to showing them where the toy drawers were in her home so they could play and she could watch them be kids. She enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies, dyeing Easter eggs and watching fireworks on the 4th of July. She loved animals, most recently including her golden cat, Buddy, and the dozens (yes, dozens) of feral cats that she fed in her backyard (much to her children’s chagrin).

In 1964, Cherie, who was raised in the Mormon faith, was baptized at the Trinity Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Cherie had a close and prayerful relationship with Jesus and our Heavenly Father. Barry, Cherie and family attended Trinity Baptist Church and First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.

Cherie was a wonderful listener and would spend as much time as anyone wanted or needed in order for them to share with her a joy, fun story, concern or sadness. She offered compassion and caring responses and advice. She loved to laugh. She lived with a California-chill attitude, and in her later years would finish most sentences with the words “whatever” and/or “anyway” as her way of recognizing that so many things that happen in life were beyond her control and should not weigh her down or diminish the immense blessings she had.

Cherie was preceded in death by her husband Barry (2000) and son Johnny (2018), by her parents and her siblings. She is reunited with them now. She is survived by her children Phil and Jo (Tulsa), Vic and Karen (Oklahoma City), Bill and Todd (Oklahoma City) and Susan and John Barrick (Laguna Nigel, California); ten grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren; several nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Memorial contributions in her honor may be made to the Oklahoma Humane Society: