Cheryl Diane Bozarth was born on August 24, 1955 in Clanton, Alabama. She was the first-born child of Willie Veston Parrish and Alice Loraine Parrish. Cheryl shared her childhood with sisters Donna, Susan, and brother John. She was raised in Mobile, AL, and was a proud graduate from Murphy High School, home of the Panthers. While in high school, she had a mischievous side. She would regal everyone with stories of her and her boyfriend, Jimbo, doing doughnuts on the golf course of the local country club. Another one of her favorite stories is the first time Jimbo picked her up for a date, Willie, brought him into the living room and was cleaning his shotgun. As they were getting ready to leave, her dad put the shotgun back together and ran the action of the shotgun and told Jimbo to have Cheryl back by 10. She was home by 10.
After graduating high school Cheryl joined the Air Force Reserves and drilled at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS. It wasn’t long after that she decided that she would rather be full time. After re-enlisting, she was sent to March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. It was there that she met the love of her life, Roy "Bo" Bozarth. After two months, they were married. They got married on June 20, 1975 and welcomed their first child, Josh, on November 17 the following year. Cheryl soon got out of the Air Force to take care of Josh. Bo got unaccompanied orders to Korea for a year. So, Cheryl and Josh moved back to Alabama, so she could have support raising Josh. During Bo’s deployment, he came home for leave and they conceived their second child Chris. Another one of her favorite stories is when she was Post Office, mailing a care package. She struck up a conversation with someone in line and told her that she was mailing the package to her husband who was overseas and had just a few months left until he returned. She was visibly showing and the woman was listening but kept looking down at her belly and the look on her face was not of approval.
After Bo returned, they welcomed their second child, Chris on August 16, 1978. He got out of the Air Force and they moved to Burbank. Cheryl began her career in insurance at 21st Century. Cheryl finally got her wish and welcomed her baby girl, Jessica, on December 19, 1983. Cheryl’s entire pregnancy, she had chosen the name Eva for her daughter and then in a rush of hormones she changed the name to Jessica. While out Christmas light looking 2 days before, Cheryl asked Josh and Chris what they thought of the name Jessica and in unison they said they hated it. Jessica stuck and they love that name now.
In 1985, Cheryl and her full family moved to Lake LA, about two hours north of Los Angeles. Cheryl went back to school, while living there, and received her Associate of Arts from Antelope Valley Community College. In 1989, The Bozarth Bunch would move to Lompoc, California after Bo transferred from Beverly Hills to Santa Barbara. It was in Lompoc that her love of the Lord would be passed on to her three kids. It was also there that she got to watch her three kids graduate from Lompoc High School and then her two sons go off to boot camp for the Coast Guard. Josh was lucky to get stationed in Morro Bay for five years. Ever the protective parent, he would spend his
money foolishly and would be without food. Cheryl would drive up to Morro Bay and buy groceries so he would have something to eat. Chris would get stationed in Panama City, FL and when it was time for him to get transferred back out to California, she drove out to Florida to help pack his belongings and drive all of his stuff back. She would do anything to help her kids and then later on her grandkids.
After a slight bump in the road, in August of 2011 Cheryl and Jessica would move out to Greenville, SC, where they would spend every free moment together for the next 11 years. Chris would follow them out in 2015 and then Bo would follow them out in 2019. She was as happy as she could be because she was surrounded by family. She had her son, Chris, daughter, Jessica and two of her grandchildren, Jeremiah and Jonah, and her best friend Bo within 15 minutes from her. She was only missing Josh and his two kids, Jeremy and Faith, and Ashley, Chris’ daughter. Family was the most important thing in her life and she was always trying to get the outliers to move to SC so she could be closer to them.
When the pandemic started, Josh, his wife, Grace, and Faith would come up from Florida and spend six months in Greenville. Ashley came out from California for four months. Only one missing was Jeremy, who couldn’t come down because he was recovering from an auto accident. She was the happiest anyone had ever seen her.
Cheryl was taken from her earthy home on February 25, 2022 at the age of 66. She was preceded in death by her parents, Willie Parrish and Loraine Cofer Parrish, and her sisters, Susan Ostermeyer and Barbara Bridgers. She was survived by her ex-husband, Roy Bozarth; sons, Josh Bozarth and Chris Bozarth; daughter, Jessica Bozarth; grandchildren: Jeremy Bozarth, Alexis Acosta-Gonzalez, Ashley Bozarth, Faith Bozarth, Jeremiah Johns and Jonah Bozarth; great-grandchildren, Liliana Gonzalez and Zefie Gonzalez; and her best friend, Lisa Jolley.
Her hobbies were crafting, stained glass and going to thrift stores and above all else, spending time with her family.
Her funeral services will be held 1:00 PM Saturday, March 26, 2022 at Palmetto Mortuary, 1017 Mauldin Rd, Greenville, SC 29607. Family will receive friends and loved ones an hour prior, beginning 12:00 PM. A 3:00 PM reception will follow at Cedar Falls Park, 201 Cedar Falls Rd, Fountain Inn, SC 29644.