Cherie d’Arcy Freeman was born in Riverside, CA on March 5, 1936 to Jack L. Randolph and Cherie D. Randolph. She spent much of her childhood in Hawaii, the southern US, and later Stamford, Connecticut. At seventeen Cherie went to college at Grace New Haven Nursing School and began her long career as a Registered Nurse. Later, Cherie joined the Air Force and became an officer and flight nurse. Major Freeman travelled the world during her time in the Air Force and in retirement settled back into hospital nursing in Tucson, AZ. Cherie had a true love for the Arizona desert and also discovered archaeology- originally taking classes at Pima Community College and then later volunteering with several archaeological organizations. Cherie worked with archaeology PhD students, was an Arizona Site Steward and volunteered at the Arizona State Museum for over 20 years. Cherie’s love of the outdoors, particularly the Sonoran desert, and her participation in archaeological fieldwork was apparent to everyone she knew, and she even received several awards for her efforts.  Outside of her work and volunteer life, Cherie was a dedicated friend to many, a loving mom  and “Sammy” to her three grandsons. 

Cherie is survived by her daughter, Allison Freeman,  and her grandsons, Easton Mitchell, Rowan Mitchell and Archer Mitchell, all of whom she dragged to the desert to dig in the dirt at one point or another. Cherie was a true character, teller of stories and lived her life voraciously.  She will be greatly missed by all who knew her. 

There will be a service at the Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery in Marana.

Held on February 12th @ 1pm 

15950 N Luckett Rd, Marana, AZ 85653

In lieu of flowers, her family requests that you make a donation in her honor to: 

Arizona State Museum- • Conservation Laboratory Endowment Fund https://statemuseum.arizona.edu/donate/endowments

 or 

Archaeology Southwest

https://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/give-a-gift-membership/