"Sherry" Cheryl Laverne Rooks Ogletree

Cheryl “Sherry” Laverne Ogletree was born on March 8, 1950 in Tifton, Georgia, the first of three children born to Sharon and Charles Rooks.  She passed away on Saturday, March 1, 2025 with her family by her side. 

Graveside funeral services will be held on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, at Hickory Springs Baptist Church Cemetery at 2:00 P.M. with Rev. Ashley Roig officiating. The family will receive friends on Tuesday evening from 5:00 P.M. - 7:00P.M. at the chapel of Albritton Funeral Directors.

 As a child, Sherry attended Mount Zion Baptist Church with her family, which helped instill her love of fellowship and a passion to serve that continued throughout her life. She fondly enjoyed the community in which she grew up, with friends and neighbors who spent almost as much time at the Rooks household as they did their own. From an early age, she enjoyed music, animals, dancing, and baking. She also worked an assortment of jobs during summer breaks, from cropping tobacco to waitressing, before graduating from Tift County High School in 1968.

One day in 1970, Sherry stopped at a convenience store in Chula to buy a Coke, only to encounter a dirt-covered, teenaged tractor driver who sat atop the Coca-Cola cooler and playfully refused to let her get a drink unless she agreed to a ride in his Chevelle. That is how she met Randy Yancey Ogletree, the love of her life and, beginning in 1974, her devoted husband of 51 years.

The couple had their first child, Randy Lee, in 1979, followed by Russell Alan in 1984 and Mitchell Trey in 1985. After years working as the office manager at Tifton Turf, Sherry spent the next decade as a stay-at-home mom, which she always considered her most important and fulfilling job. Her sons’ childhoods were joyful, filled with their mother’s love, laughter, and unwavering interest and support. 

Sherry eventually returned to work, primarily as a paraprofessional at Len Lastinger Elementary and then as deputy clerk at the Clerk of Court’s office. She retired in 2017, pleased to spend more time with Randy and her three cherished grandchildren: Owen, Charlee Cate, and Aubree.

Sherry will be remembered as a selfless nurturer and caregiver, not just with her husband, children, and grandchildren but numerous others, to include a grandmother she lived with and cared for as a teenager as well as her own mother, who required daily assistance in her later years. Some of her former Len Lastinger students and colleagues still remember her as someone who knew just what to say when a young person needed praise or encouragement and was quick with a hug whenever a child needed love. 

Sherry was called home on March 1, 2025. She is survived by her husband Randy; their sons Lee, Russ, and Mitch; daughters-in-law Niki and Candace; grandchildren Owen, Charlee Cate, and Aubree; siblings Charles “Chip” Rooks and Gale Rescott; siblings-in-law Karen Rooks, Danny Ogletree, Gloria Hobbs, and Brian Rescott; and many beloved nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was a wonderful daughter, sister, friend, aunt, wife, mother, and grandmother, and she will be greatly missed by everyone impacted by her happiness, generosity, kindness, humor, and compassion. 

In lieu of flowers you may make donations to Hospice of Tiftarea, 618 N. Central Ave., Tifton Ga 31794, or Salem Baptist Church online at www.sbctifton.com.

Albritton Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.