Muriel Dilley Cherney

A graveside service for Muriel Dilley Cherney of Spanish Fort, Alabama, formerly of Granville, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, October 30, 2010 at Maple Grove Cemetery in Granville with the Rev. Stephen H. Applegate officiating.

Muriel Dilley Cherney died August 1, 2010, at Westminster Village in Spanish Fort, Alabama. She was born April 2, 1912, in China within the campus of Peking Union Medical College, she was the daughter of missionaries, Dr. Frederick and Mrs. Grace Dilley.

She attended school in China until she enrolled in The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. She went on to study at Case Western Reserve University and earned a Master's Degree in Social Work. She married Paul Russell Cherney and while raising their children, she pursued a career in the field of social work. Her career included psychiatric social work at Baylor University in Houston, Texas; and adoption work with the Episcopal Diocese of Westchester County, New York. Relocating to Mobile in the early 1970's, she worked with Family Service-Travelers Aid in the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees and later as an adoption supervisor for Catholic Social Services.

From the time of her retirement in 1982, she was active as a volunteer in the Mobile area. She was a founding member of the Bay Area Food Bank, volunteer coordinator of Loaves and Fishes and a volunteer for the Mercy Medical Hospice outreach program. She was a founding Board Member of Children of the World, an international adoption organization. In 2001, she was honored by the YWCA with the Lifetime Achievement Award. As a communicant of All Saints Episcopal Church in Mobile, she served in a variety of capacities with her participation in the choir being the activity she loved the most. In 2003, she and her husband moved to the retirement community of Westminster Village and joined St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Daphne, Alabama. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brothers, Charles and Dudley Dilley, and her sister Jeannie Wooding.

She is survived by her children, Christopher Cherney and his wife Susannah of Jackson, Mississippi; Penny Painter and her husband James Harry Painter, III of Houston, Texas; Julia Grace of Birmingham, Alabama; and Alain Cherney of West Palm Beach, Florida as well as five grandchildren, Christine Montgomery and husband Rob of Granville, Ohio; John Anthony Cherney and wife Heidi of Memphis, TN; James Harry Painter, IV and wife Aissa, Russell Painter and wife Blair of Houston, Texas; and Teal Dailey and husband Jason of Birmingham, Alabama and five great grandchildren, Susannah and Grace Montgomery, Emma and James Harry Painter, V, and Reese and Bridget Painter and Isaac Dailey. Other survivors include a sister, Ruth Sims and brother, Paul Dilley, both of St. Petersburg, Florida

The family would like to express appreciation to the staff of Westminster Village and Odyssey Hospice Care for their love and devotion.

Memorials may be sent to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 28788 North Main Street, Daphne, Alabama 36526 or to The College of Wooster, Office of Development, Galpin Hall, Wooster, Ohio 44691.