Cheryl "Cherie" Ann McNulty

She was born on August 6, 1946, in Mobile, Alabama, to Charles Wise and Dorothy Bidwell Wise.

HER LIFE

Cherie’s dad was fiercely tied to his Deep South roots, while her mom was full-on Brooklyn. As a newborn baby, Cherie left Alabama for New York tucked safely into a laundry basket. The family moved back and forth over the years before finally settling in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, around 1958, when Cherie was 12.

She attended St. Catherine’s School in Mobile and Gerritsen Beach School in Brooklyn, and graduated from Sheepshead Bay High School in 1964.

Cherie’s good friend Alaine first introduced her to her future husband, Jack, when they were young. Their earliest “date” was at a pizza shop on Gerritsen Avenue, beginning a friendship and love story that would ultimately span most of their lives.

She spent much of her early adult life raising her three children, working as a secretary on Long Island, and keeping the household running while Jack served in the military and later worked his many jobs, including his career with the New York City Fire Department.

From a young age, Cherie dreamed of becoming a nurse—and, for a brief time, a flight attendant. She wanted to enlist in the Navy straight out of high school, but life took her in another direction. She would have to wait until 1993 to finally earn her LPN nursing degree.

Making such a significant career change at the age of 47 was an accomplishment of which she was enormously proud. From special-needs group homes to a dialysis center to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, caring for others came naturally to Cherie. She excelled as a nurse and earned the respect and affection of employers, coworkers, and patients alike.

On two separate occasions, she was offered full scholarships to continue her education and earn her RN degree. Both times, family circumstances led her to put those opportunities aside—one of many examples throughout her life of placing the needs of the people she loved ahead of her own ambitions.

FAMILY

One of the most important parts of Cherie’s life was her family.

After rekindling her romance with Jack in 1964, followed by several years of long-distance courtship during his military service, Cherie married John “Jack” McNulty on March 16, 1968.

Their wedding featured green rice and green bridesmaid dresses—a nod to St. Patrick’s Day weekend and Cherie’s lifelong pride in her Irish roots.

They would go on to share an extraordinary 58 years of marriage.

Together, Cherie and Jack raised their first two children in Brooklyn before moving to Long Island shortly before their daughter was born in 1980.

After Jack retired from the FDNY, the couple decided they were ready for a change of pace and a warmer climate, moving to Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1993. Once again, Cherie adapted her own dreams and career around what was best for the family.

When their first grandchild, Lily, was born in 2004, Cherie and Jack soon moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, so they could help care for her. The timing was especially meaningful: she had recently been given another opportunity to continue her nursing studies, but chose instead to be close to her family.

As more grandchildren came along, Cherie made a point of being present for birthdays, graduations, holidays, and other milestones. Despite the financial and physical costs of traveling long distances, visiting her children and grandchildren was always a priority.

In 2013, Cherie and Jack moved to Ocala, Florida, to enjoy their golden years.

Between cruises, outings, church, and bantering like The Costanzas, they spent countless hours together on their lanai playing games. Scrabble, Five Crowns, Ticket to Ride, and others all had their place in an elaborate schedule—complete, naturally, with carefully recorded scores.

Their neighbors often commented on how lovely it was to hear the two of them laughing together. After all those years, they remained each other’s best friend.

Cherie was a loving and devoted wife, mother of three, grandmother of four, sister, aunt, cousin, and friend.

She is survived by her husband of 58 years, John “Jack” McNulty, age 80; her son Chris McNulty, age 55, of Alpharetta, Georgia, his wife Darlene, and their children Ian and Aidan, age 15; her son Brian McNulty, age 52, of Durham, North Carolina, and his children Lily, age 21, and Noah, age 19; and her daughter Megan Le, age 46, of Da Nang, Vietnam, and her husband, David Le, age 48.

She is also survived by her daughter in spirit, Tina McNulty, age 52, of St. Louis, Missouri; her sister, Lynn Relay; brother-in-law Jim Relay; and their children Sean, Danny, and Jen and their families; her cousin Larry Mohrmann, his wife Barbara, and their children Cara, Lauren, and Mark and their families; her brother-in-law Bobby McNulty, his wife Lillian, her niece Jeannie Landis and her family; and her brother-in-law Joe Stefanelli, her nieces Sharon Tether and Lara Spector, and their families.

Cherie was preceded in death by her mother, Dorothy Wise, who died in 1997; her father, Charles Wise, who died in 2001; her father-in-law, John McNulty, who died in 1983; her mother-in-law, Mary McNulty, who died in 2003; her nephew, Michael McNulty who died in 1997; and her sister-in-law, Normandie Stefanelli, who died in 2006.

WHO SHE WAS

Cherie will be remembered for her beautiful smile, remarkable organizational skills, warm and caring energy, deep faith, and unwavering loyalty to her family.

She was the kind of person who might start dancing in the middle of an airport if she heard a song she liked, with Jack usually serving as her reluctant dance partner.

She rarely arrived for a visit without a few little gifts tucked away for someone. It was one of the many ways she showed that, no matter how far away you lived, she had been thinking about you.

Cherie remembered birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, and special occasions, and she loved sending cards that expressed exactly how she felt about the people in her life. When she received cards herself, she proudly displayed them on her dining room hutch so she could hold onto the love a little bit longer.

She loved clipping new recipes from magazines and trying them out, spent more than a decade researching and documenting her family tree, collected dolls, and loved going to the theatre. One of the things she was especially excited about was finally seeing Spamalot in November.

Cherie was rarely without a camera. Her family may have groaned when she brought it out yet again, but the many albums she created have now become treasured time capsules filled with holidays, travels, celebrations, ordinary days, and people she loved.

She was a keeper of memories. Cherie saved boxes of love letters from Jack and carefully documented jewelry, gifts, and keepsakes she received throughout her life. Her beautiful, flowing cursive handwriting now lives on in stacks of journals, letters, cards, notes, and mementos. She had a flair for language and writing and had always hoped one day to write children’s books.

She also took great pride in her appearance and was rarely seen without lipstick. Even on her final day on this earth, her daughter made sure she had it on.

During Cherie’s 80th birthday celebration in St. Petersburg the weekend of August 6th, 2006, her daughter proudly told anyone who would listen that her mother had just turned 80. No one could believe it. Just over a week later, doctors and nurses caring for Cherie were saying exactly the same thing.

She loved going for walks, rescuing dogs and cats over the years, and caring for her beloved Beaker bird (he died August 15th at the age of 27). In later years, when her health concerns kept her closer to home and out of the sun, tending to her roses brought her tremendous joy.

But maybe more than anything, her Catholic faith was a constant throughout her life. Her family was not religious at all, yet she found her way to the church, all on her own, as a child. She rarely missed a week of church, even while traveling. As Jack told the priest who came to administer her final sacrament, “The Pope would call her to confess.”

Her family will especially miss her love of Christmas, her liberal use of proverbs and sayings, and her diplomatic use of the phrase “That’s different” whenever what she really meant was that she absolutely did not like something.

They will miss the cards and little gifts.

They will miss the photographs.

They will miss the lipstick.

They will miss the random bursts of dancing and song.

Most of all, they will miss her.

MEMORIAL SERVICE

A memorial service celebrating Cherie’s life will be held on November 27, 2026, at 12:00 p.m. at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, 6455 SW State Road 200, Ocala, FL 34476

Family and friends are warmly invited to attend.

Memories and Memorial Donations

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial donations be made in Cherie’s memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital:

https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html

Those wishing to honor Cherie are also invited to share their favorite memories and photographs on this memorial site or email them directly to her daughter, Megan, at [email protected].

The family will collect these memories and photographs and share them during Cherie’s memorial celebration in November.

IN LOVING MEMORY

Cherie’s life cannot be measured simply by its 80 years, but by the love she gave, the memories she preserved, the sacrifices she made, and the imprint she left on her husband, children, grandchildren, family, friends, patients, colleagues, neighbors, and community.

She spent a lifetime honoring, caring for, and remembering the people she loved. Now, they will remember her.

Cheryl Ann “Cherie” McNulty will be deeply missed by everyone fortunate enough to have known and loved her.