Mildred “Nonny” Chereb

Jan 05, 1924 - Jun 13. 2014

Mildred “Nonny” Chereb, an adopted Nevadan who loved the mountains and high desert, died Friday at her home in Gardnerville. She was 90. Born Jan 5, 1924 in Stony Brook, N.Y., Nonny worked for Republic Aviation during World War II. In 1950 she married Andrew Chereb of Miller Place, N.Y., and lived a life on the family farm raising three children. She was active in the Ladies Auxiliary of the Miller Place Fire Department, of which Andrew Chereb was a founding members. Nonny was active in Girl Scouts, serving as “cookie coordinator” for many years, and was also a longtime election worker. Many remember her as the friendly boss lady at Chereb’s farm stand in Miller Place. When the farm switched to a wholesale operation, Nonny was the crew chief overseeing packaging. During her decades on the farm, she was surrogate mom to hundreds of teenagers who got their first job experience at Chereb’s Farm. After long days on the farm, she was often up late in the evening canning and freezing vegetables or making jams, relishes and pickles to sustain the family through winter. In winter after the farming season ended, she enjoyed painting, playing piano, reading and crocheting. Nonny and Andrew moved to Gardnerville to be near family in 1996. Andrew, her husband of 58 years, preceded her in death in 2008. Nonny is survived by three children; daughter Sandra Chereb and son-in-law Mike Harper of Gardnerville; and sons James of Carson City and Michael of Rantoul, Ill. Services will be held 1 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at FitzHenry’s Funeral Home, 1380 Hwy. 395, Gardnerville.