Sherry Faulk
by

Darrell E. Hamilton
 

       Sherry Ann Cooley Faulk was born on December 20, 1950 in Ashtabula, Ohio to Thomas and Magrea Gilmore Cooley. Sherry was the second of four children. Theresa, the oldest, lives in California. Donnie lives in Kingsville and Debbie, the youngest, lives in Ashtabula.

       Sherry’s parents were from Mississippi. They moved to Ashtabula in 1949 when Electro-Met advertised in Mississippi that they needed help. Sherry’s sister, Theresa was born in Mississippi.
       Sherry’s earliest remembrance of Ashtabula was leaving Ashtabula. When Sherry’s grandparents, the Gilmores, came to Ashtabula in 1955, her grandparents took her on a train trip to Niagara Falls.
       Her grandfather worked for the New York Central Railroad. They caught the train at the depot in Ashtabula. She remembers the train station being so grand at the time. Even though the trip was to Niagara Falls, Sherry remembers most of all the sights she saw from the train on the way to Niagara Falls. She remembers most of all the vineyards of New York.  
       Sherry started kindergarten in September of 1956 at West Elementary. The building sits across the parking lot from West Junior High. At one time it was known as the “old building” or the “little building”. The building housed kindergarten through second grade.
       After second grade, Sherry went to the “big building” from third grade to eighth grade. She spent a total of nine years at one school.
       Sherry can remember every one of her teachers’ names. She liked every one of her teachers and held every one of them in high esteem. She remembers her fourth grade teacher very well. “She was one of the classiest teachers I had ever met. She had a certain aura around her. She had a rock collection and would often bring huge pieces of quartz and rocks to show the students. Her husband used to make her jewelry from her rock collection.”
       I can also remember this teacher very well. I went to school with Sherry for twelve years. I had many of the same teachers as Sherry did including Mrs. Steakly, our fourth grade teacher. So, I don’t need to tell you about Mrs. Steakly. However I can tell you about Sherry. Sherry was a very sweet, pretty, quite little girl. She is not as little as she was in fourth grade but the rest of the description fits her including girl. It is difficult for me to call the girls I went to school with “women”. They will always be the “girls” to me for as long as I live.
       Sherry can also remember getting nickels for A’s at a West end store from George. As soon as the kids would receive their nickels, most of them would give them right back to George for candy and other items that would be attracted to by a child.
       Church was a big part of Sherry’s life. Bible school was held at West Junior High after school. We would always go to Bible school. Sherry was very good at the “Bible drills”. This was a race to see who could look up Bible scriptures the fastest. Once she was in a Bible drill and she looked up the scripture first. However, she realized she was reading the wrong scripture. She was awarded a small prize but had to give the prize up through her own admission. She could had said nothing and kept the prize. This is  where the teaching of the church and especially her parents came in. I have heard nothing but good things about Sherry’s parents. However I can’t say too much about Tom and Magrea Cooley. That will be another story.
       An entire book could be written on West Junior High. At one time West Junior High went from Kinder-garten to ninth grade. Can you imagine all the stories that could be told by all the students and the teachers that taught there?
       Sherry lived on West 43rd Street while she was growing up. She remembers that everyone kept their lawns up and planted flowers around their house and how well the streets were shaded.  She can remember the peach trees and the cherry trees. However, Sherry never climbed any trees. As she said, “I was not a tomboy”, I can remember Sherry as being kind of prissy.
       Kids in those days were not allowed to roam the streets as many of them do today. We had to stay within eye distance of our parents and that meant not leaving the street you lived on. While the fathers worked in the fifties and sixties, most mothers stayed at home and had the most important job in the world, a full time mother. On occasion a mother did work. Sherry’s mom did work for awhile at Hill’s Department store after Sherry had become a teenager.
       As Sherry stated, “My parents were strict but not mean.”
       Most children at West went home for lunch before West Jr. High became just seventh and eighth grades. On occasion some children did bring their lunch to school. One of those students Sherry and I can remember was Paul White. If I am not mistaken, at the end of sixth grade, his parents built a house in Kingsville and graduated Edgewood in 1969.
       At the end of sixth grade, in 1963, West Junior High became just a junior high. A lot of the West Street kids did not want to go to school with those “Bunker Hill kids”. However Sherry met Rosalind Moody from Bunker Hill School. She turned out to be one of Sherry’s best friends.
       Growing up Sherry can remember when Electro-Met used to give a Christmas program at Shea’s Theater for the employees. Every year for the Christmas program, Electro-Met used to bring in a well known entertainers. She can remember when they brought in the Osmonds and all the children would receive candy and oranges.
       Growing up in Ashtabula in the fifties and sixties was a lot different then today. As we saw the racial violence in large cities on television, Ashtabula never saw racial tension that we can remember. I can not remember any racial tension and Sherry agrees with me. At least that is from a child’s point of view. “In a lot a cities, the black children never got the opportunities that we had in Ashtabula. We could participate in anything in and out of school. I never felt any racial tension in Ashtabula growing up.” This was done without having separate schools. I will have to agree with Sherry on this whole hardly. Growing up in Ashtabula, I personally never heard any racial slurs until I reached my junior or senior year in high school. I always thought of Sherry as being a pretty little sweet girl. But, I’ve already said that haven’t I Sherry?
       Ashtabula was a small-large town in those days with a lot of good values. People in those days moved to Ashtabula because of jobs. Today people move here because of cheap housing.
       In high school Sherry participated in a lot of extra curricular events including the student senate and cheerleading. Her most memorable as a cheerleader came when the cheerleaders were riding inCarol Dewey’s fathers car past Harbor High School on game day. The car was pelted with eggs from Harbor High School students. They had to wash the car, which was a dealer’s car before Carol could take the car back to her father. Ah yes Sherry, those were the good old days!
       Sherry graduated in 1969. By the way, class of 1969 is having their 35th reunion in July. Sherry will be one of our main speakers along with Gene Gephart and hopefully a host of other former teachers will be in attendance.
       In high school Sherry wanted to be a nurse. On the back of her senior picture she gave to her father, she wrote, “Dad, To a great father who has worked hard for all of us. Good luck, maybe you will be a foreman someday. When I become a nurse I’ll treat you for free. Love, Sherry ’69 P. S. May I have some money? (smile)”
       Sherry started Kent State University, Ashtabula campus in 1969. She decided not to become a nurseat the Ashtabula campus. She decided she wanted to teach. Sherry also remembers with fondness the instructors at the Ashtabula Campus. Bart Nolan was one of the instructors and he is still at the Ashtabula campus.
       After two years at the Ashtabula campus, Sherry transferred to the main campus at Kent. In her junior year Sherry was in a life threatening  auto accident. Because of the auto accident, Sherry had to sit out a semester and graduated in August of 1973. She had originally been in an English major and history minor. However at the time Kent State had some kind of rule that you couldn’t have a history minor with an English major. So she ended up with a minor in library science.
       Sherry’s cousin Anita Trotter wanted Sherry to put her application in the Ashtabula School district with her. However, being Sherry graduated only a couple of days or so before school started, she didn’t think she would have much of a chance getting hired. As it turned Sherry would had a good chance to be hired because of teacher illness.
       Sherry’s first teaching job was at Harbor High School as a substitute English teacher which lasted for almost nine weeks. She then substituted English at Ashtabula High School for a long period of extended time. For awhile she substituted physical education classes at West Junior High.
       In 1974 Sherry started at West Junior High permanently as an English teacher. Some of the teachers at West Junior High Sherry worked with were her teachers a West. Betty Eskelin and Bob Davis were just a couple of the teachers that she also worked with.
       In 1986 Sherry went to Ashtabula High School to teach. She was there eight years when she went back to earn her masters in admistration. An opening came up at Ashtabula High School and she became assistant principal. Sherry held that position for three years when Buddy Candela, principal of  West Junior High transferred to Harbor High School. She then became the principal of West Junior High in 1995. It is a position she holds until this day.
       Sherry attended West Junior High for nine years. She taught at West Junior High for 12 years. At the end of the school year, she will have been principal of West Junior High for nine years for a grand total of thirty-one years spent at West Junior High.
       On June 30, Sherry will retire as principal of West Jr. High. Sherry probably knows just about as much or more than anyone else living about West Junior High.
       In December of 2002, Sherry married Lawrence Faulk. They had met in church and he was the nephew of her minister of her church.
       After her retirement Sherry will move to Alliance, Ohio where her husband lives. There she will take a year off and watch movies she never got to watch and read all the books she never got to read.
       After that Sherry is not real sure what she will do. In her words, “There are other challenges.
       Sherry thought she might want to teach on the college level. She might go back to school and get her Doctor’s degree if for not for anything, for herself. She may do something out of education. Who knows? Maybe Sherry will become a nurse. Sherry?
       In closing, Sherry said she had a wonderful life in Ashtabula.

                                 “Ashtabula was a wonderful place to grow up.” –Sherry                                            

Good luck Sherry. Keep in touch!
 
 
Sherry Cooley - Fourth Grade - West Junior High Sherry Cooley

   

Ashtabula High School Cheerleaders 1968-69

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sherry Cooley - 1969

 

               Sherry Cooley - 2003 at office                      (Photo by Darrell E. Hamilton)

Sherry (Cooley) Faulk - 2002
Thomas & Magrea Cooley

Sherry & Lawrence Faulk