Cheryl Sue Dexter O’Neal, a longtime resident of Dallas, passed away peacefully on February 29, 2024. She was 79 years old. Cheryl was born in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest child of Morrell Frank and Helen Shively Dexter. She was born while her father was fighting in “WWII,” as she used to call it. Growing up, Cheryl enjoyed hanging around her father’s hardware store, learning how to fix just about anything. Later, these skills evolved into a lifelong talent for doing anything with her hands, including finishing and repurposing furniture, quilt-making, painting, gardening, and baking, once winning first place for her apple cake in a State Fair of Texas baking competition. She also enjoyed collecting and decorating her home with antiques.
After graduating from high school in Boulder, Colorado, Cheryl attended college at Southern Methodist University for two years, before leaving to take a job as a dental assistant. Later, she sold real estate with Henry S. Miller for many years in Dallas. In late 1973, she met Don O’Neal on a blind date arranged by friends. They began a relationship and married on December 31st, 1982. Cheryl became a second mother to Don’s two children, Jennifer and Stephanie O’Neal, planning special experiences for her daughters, from plays and art exhibits to fancy restaurants, whenever they visited Dallas. She loved to travel and visited nearly every continent, including the countries of Mexico, Argentina, Chile, the Caribbean, Egypt, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, New Zealand, and all the Western European countries. Often, Don and Cheryl would invite their children and grandchildren on special vacations (such as to New York City, Paris, Whistler, Canada, and Prescott, Arizona), and Cheryl came up with truly unique vacation activities for her grandchildren every summer. She really knew how to make memories.
Cheryl was predeceased by her husband, Don Elbert O’Neal, father and mother, Morrell Frank and Helen Shively Dexter, her sister, Sandra Lou (Dexter) McDonald, as well as nephews, David McDonald and Scott Dexter, niece, Marsha McDonald, and stepdaughter’s partner, Andrew “Andy” O’Neil. She is survived by her brother and his partner, David Morrell Dexter and Mary Ann Robison, brother-in-law, Glenn McDonald, stepdaughters, Jennifer and Stephanie O’Neal, son-in-law, Ayman Abdellatif, grandchildren, Safaa Abdellatif and Phoenix O’Neal, and grandson-in-law, Ahmad Tirhi.
We would like to thank Belmont Village Turtle Creek and Lakeway and Silverado Hospice for overseeing Cheryl’s care and safety for the past 4 and a half years, especially during the pandemic. We would also like to extend our profound thanks and appreciation to our "Village" - Brian Hall, Ken Brown, Anita O'Neal, Allison Skinner, Stuart Mallory, Elizabeth Oliva, Sarah Hunter, Mary Ann Marshall, and Susie and Gary Craig - without whose generous assistance and tireless support we wouldn't have been able to achieve having Cheryl be in such close proximity to us, so that we could care for and spend as much time as possible with her, including being with her at the end. There are no words for the peace this has provided us.
A joint service of remembrance for Cheryl and Don O’Neal is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 10th, 2024, at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas, 4015 Normandy Dr. with a reception to follow in Channing Hall.
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