Obituary of Cheryl Ann Barton

Cheryl (Ohneck) Barton passed away on September 29, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was 78 years old. She was born on February 21, 1944 in Toledo, Ohio to Charles A. and Agnes (Sweeny) Ohneck. Cheryl obtained a BA in English and French at Rivier College in Nashua, New Hampshire; and an MBA in International Administration at SIT in Brattleboro, Vermont. Cheryl served as a Peace Corps volunteer, first in Tunisia serving as an English teacher, where she met her future husband. After completing her service, Cheryl returned to Ohio where she taught English at an inter-city school. Cheryl moved to California, married John, taught creative writing and journalism at a junior high school second. Cheryl and John were invited to join the Peace Corp a second time as volunteer leaders. She served as head of university development and public relations in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire). Cheryl lived and worked for seven years in the small historic mining town of Silver Plume, Colorado. Cheryl was one of the founders of the local Historical Society, a Town Council member and store owner and baker. She returned to international development, working as a training specialist for a primary health care project in North Yemen. After a short stay in the States while Cheryl obtained her master degree, Cheryl was appointed Peace Corps Deputy Director for Programing and Training in Zaire. She was later asked to become Peace Corps Director in Chad and re-establish the program there. Returning to Washington, DC, Cheryl worked for a couple of years with the EPA as a congressional liaison. Next, Cheryl took an assignment with the U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance at the regional office in Botswana, ensuring countries in the region were prepared to respond to disasters. After a couple of years, it was back to Washington, DC with Cheryl working for John Snow International doing Health Logistics training and development. Cheryl and John returned to Africa, this time to Madagascar, where they, for the first time, worked on the same project. Cheryl was Deputy Director of a primary health care project. Six months before the end of the project, Cheryl was asked to move to Kenya to fill in as project director for a medical logistics project. Returning to the States, Cheryl and John moved to Prescott, Arizona. Cheryl continued traveling the world teaching Medical Logistics with John Snow. Cheryl gave up the traveling to serve as Director of Neighbor to Neighbor, a nonprofit serving home-bound people in communities around the Prescott area. Before final retirement, Cheryl moved to the county health department as Volunteer Coordinator of the Medical Reserve Corps. Cheryl had a gift for languages and spoke French, Arabic, Lingala, Swahili and Tswana. Cheryl was proceeded in death by her father, Charles; mother, Agnes; and brother, Bob Ohneck. She is survived by her husband of fifty-three years, John; sister, Mary (Manny) Vasquez in Texas; sister-in-law, Dot Blackman in Colorado; sister-in-law, Jayne Ohneck in Florida; and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews in Colorado, Michigan, Florida and the Washington, DC area. Celebration of Life, 10:00AM, Friday, November 4, 2022, Liberty Heights, 12105 Ambassador Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Memorial Contributions can be made to The Cheryl O. Barton SIT Scholarship for International Development Fund at 1 Kipling Road, PO Box 676, Brattleboro, Vermont 05302-0676; or to a charity of your choice. Events Celebration of Life Friday, November 4, 2022 10:00AM Liberty Heights Senior Living 12105 Ambassador Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80921