Virginia Barrios Cheek Obituary
We are sad to announce that on May 6, 2018, at the age of 82, Virginia Barrios Cheek (Sioux Falls, South Dakota) passed away. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Virginia Barrios Cheek to pay them a last tribute.
She told me that, "I remember the planes flying around and my mother yelling for me to get in the house . She attended Kalihi-Kai Elementary School, then Kalakaua Intermediate and graduated from Farrington High school in 1953. At Farrington, Ginny was on the Social Programming Committee. She would assist in planning events for the student body etcetera. This would be a forerunner and testament to her abilities as an organizer and to her management skill set. At the tender age of eighteen, she left Honolulu and went to New York City. There she began her career with the Department of the Navy as a Clerk Typist, GS2. In 1954, she appeared in an interview in the "Navy Times" as well as a local newspaper in Amesbury Massachusetts. The interview was in regard to Ginny's first encounter with a "Pen Pal" she wrote to from Hawaii and finally had the opportunity to meet in person! In 1956 she met a Serviceman who at that time was transitioning between the Navy and entering the Air Force. Shortly thereafter, they married and began a family of their own. The fruit of their labor produced four children, a daughter and three sons. Of which one each, starting with the eldest, was born in Massachusetts, California, Japan and finally Hawaii. Oddly enough, they had a child at each duty station! She continued to work for the Armed Forces throughout her career, the Navy, then the Air Force, and finished her career with the United States Army at Fort Shafter. She was the first ever Civilian Female Foreman in the U.S. Army System. After a distinguished career of thirty two years in service of the military, Ginny retired a GS7 . In 1992, Virginia moved back to the mainland, initially to Minnesota then to where she presently lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She served as a Benedictine Oblate at Blue Cloud Abbey, which subsequently closed in 2012. While at Blue Cloud Ginny would spend the Holidays with the monks. At Easter she would present every monk and lay staff member an Easter basket full of stuffed animals and candy. It gave her great pleasure to bring happiness to others. She also brought back the tradition of wearing hats to Mass at Easter time. After the closing of Blue Cloud she transferred her Oblate status to a Priory in Schuyler, Nebraska. Because of the distance to drive she was presently transitioning to Sacred Heart Monastery in Yankton, SD. She has been friends with many of the Sisters there and felt that was much safer and closer for her to drive. Ginny loved her faith and all of the religious from the various communities in South Dakota. She had friends also at Mother of God Monastery in Watertown and many close friends in Aberdeen SD at the Presentation Sisters Monastery. She treasured them all! From 2000- 07 she was involved in Prison Ministry with the Catholic Church where she would visit hardened criminals who were in the State Penitentiary, including the maximum security unit and also helped at the minimum security facility in Springfield, South Dakota. In Appleton, Minnesota she visited Five Hundred prisoners that were from Hawaii. Ginny also serves as a Volunteer at the Washington Pavilion and is a greeter for Big Brothers Big Sisters, also volunteers at the Alzheimer's Office of Sioux Falls where she does packets for mailing. She has also volunteered serving "Meals on Wheels" and at their office too. Even being thousands of miles away she has continued to have an influence on her family. Ginny was tough, but fair. Ginny is survived by her children, Lauren (Claude) Sarsona, grandchildren Ryan (Koortnie) Cheek, their children, Royce, Romyn, Reyah, Rylan, Kelia, Selah, Aliya, Lindsay (Daniel) Gough, their children Dylan, Isaiah, Brennan, Wyatt (deceased) and Nicholas Rodrigues. Carl (Caroline) Cheek and their daughter Johanna. Christopher (Staci) Cheek and their children Brandon (Stephanie) Cheek-Enriques, Byron Cheek-Enriques (Kaleolani Souza) grandchildren Malie, Leialani, Shayne, Eryk, Rusty (deceased) and Cyrus. Curtis (Tara) Cheek and grandchildren Zachary (Jasmine), Brittany (Cory Makino), Kiara, Brook Cheek (Michael Morales), Draxton, Logan. Many beloved nieces and nephews and a host of friends too many to count… she loved them all. She is preceded in death by her parents Rustico and Priscilla, siblings Daniel Segovia and Dolores (James) Naylon. Visitation will be from 5pm-7pm on Thursday, May 10th, at Christ the King Catholic Church with a prayer service at 7pm. Funeral Mass will begin at 10:30am on Friday May 11th, at Christ the King Catholic Church in Sioux Falls. Burial will be in Blue Cloud Cemetery at Abbey of the Hills Friday afternoon.
