Lionel Cherry

Lionel was born on June 13, 1947 to Jesse and Mildred Cherry in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Hillsdale, New Jersey. He graduated from Pascack Valley High School in 1965, and earned his B.A. from New York University in 1969 and his M.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1971. He taught high school English for five years and worked for Dun & Bradstreet for a year before relocating to Washington, DC in 1977. After two years working for the District of Columbia government, he was employed as a Management Analyst by the U.S. Department of the Navy, where he remained until he retired in 2004.

Lionel married Lisa Schwartz in 1993, and they moved to Silver Spring, MD in 1996. Their daughter Leora Cherry was born in 1998. Lionel and Lisa divorced in 2010 but remained friends.

Lionel loved doo-wop music, early rock and roll, museums, and nature documentaries. He took great comfort in his Jewish faith. He had many friends, and was popular at his last residence, Bedford Court, where he lived for over ten years. He was especially proud of and devoted to Leora, and would scour the newspaper daily to look for and clip items that might be of interest to her.

Lionel is survived by his daughter Leora, his ex-wife Lisa, and his sister Pamela (Dan) Feil of Fairfax, VA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Tifereth Israel Congregation in Washington, DC.