By Jonathan Smith, Editor in Chief
Although memories will pour out from the friends of Cheryl Halbert, they all cycle back to one thing: Cheryl’s love. Her love for people. Her love for family. Her love for friends. Her love for kids.
“She loved everyone,” said Andrea Schweikhard, junior communication major from Tulsa, Okla., and one of Halbert’s roommates. “She would cry with you immediately if something was wrong, but then she would calm you down immediately. She would listen as long as she needed to, and then she would give the best advice.”
Halbert, 20, was killed Aug. 14 driving to San Antonio on U.S. Highway 87 near Mason when she lost control of the vehicle and struck a tree. Chris Meeks, junior accounting major from Rockwall, was injured in the accident and was airlifted to Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo where glass was removed from his eye.
Funeral services were Wednesday at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. Family and friends shared some of their favorite memories, and her brother Brett read excerpts from her diary from various points in her life-on Spring Break Campaigns, at summer camp and studying abroad in Oxford. Women from Sigma Theta Chi, Halbert’s social club, brought yellow roses to the front during one song.
Dr. Wayne Barnard, dean of Campus Life, said he would speak to Halbert’s brothers, Brett, who lives in Abilene, and Darren, an incoming freshman, as well as her friends about having a memorial service for her either in Chapel or one evening.
“I think it would be nice for students to have a way of expressing themselves here,” Barnard said.
Schweikhard and Halbert’s other roommates, Angela Meyer, junior psychology and pre-med major from Arlington, Tenn., and Sarah Woodroof, junior history major from Brentwood, Tenn., remember her smile and life, as well as her ability to connect with anyone.
“She was extremely Texan-friendly to everybody,” Meyer said.
Road trips came to mind as well, whether they were to Austin, Fredericksburg, Tulsa, Okla., or Halbert’s personal favorite-her hometown of San Antonio.
“She loved to take people home to San Antonio,” Schweikhard said, where Halbert could introduce them to her family-one of her passions.
For Halbert’s friends, the vivid memories could go on-memories of a loyal and loving friend.
“She was very loyal,” Meyer said. “Loyal to friends, loyal to family, loyal in prayer.”
