Franklin “Wayne” Cherry, 54, lived life to the fullest, making each moment count. He died Dec. 24, 2008.

Born in Louisville, Ky., he attended Thomas Jefferson High School and the University of Louisville, where he played on the football team. He worked at Phillip Morris tobacco factory for two summers and at the Brown Bag Restaurant, where he created his famous bean soup that he planned to get rich selling. He helped coach Gray, his high school football coach, rebuild a historical mansion where they found a letter from President Andrew Jackson in the walls as insulation.

Wayne’s mother sent him to Alaska in 1977 with a one-way ticket to visit his sister and he never returned to Kentucky to live. In the 1980s, Cherry built houses and worked construction. He didn’t like working away from the family, so he went to work for Chrysler in Anchorage and then moved closer to home at Tony’s Chevrolet and finally to Alaska Sales and Service as sales manager.

Wayne loved to cook, camp in Homer, play golf, fish, play cards and buy outrageously expensive lawn mowers. When people first met Wayne they often thought he was cantankerous, but soon found that behind that exterior was a heart of gold. He was generous with gifts of food and sometimes money when he found out someone was in a bind.

He enjoyed being around the kids and grandkids, and loved a good practical joke.

Wayne will be sincerely missed by family and friends. He was preceded in death by his father, Franklin D. Cherry. He is survived by his wife of 23 years, Nancy Neal Cherry, and three children: daughters Karissa Zimin and Daisy and husband Patrick Ray of Wasilla; son Ryan Cherry and wife Danielle of Reno, Nev.; and four grandchildren: Angel, Kylie, Grayson and Ocean; mother, Daisy Valkenburg of Kentucky; sisters Donna and husband Leo Krueger of Nevada, and Gina and husband Tim Mattingly of Kentucky; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m., at Shaw Elementary, 3750 E. Paradise Lane, 4 miles up Wasilla Fishook in Wasilla. Memorials may be made to the United Way.

Arrangements were entrusted to Valley Funeral Home, Wasilla.