Cheryl Blackwater

Visitation will be from 6pm to 10pm Friday March 6th at the District 3 Multipurpose building. The funeral will be at 7am Saturday March 7th at the First Presbyterian Church in Sacaton. Burial will be in the East Side Cemetery of Sacaton.

Ms. Blackwater was born August 19th, 1953, in Sacaton. She was a beloved mother, daughter, sister, aunt, grandmother, friend and coworker who was just as flawed as any human being

Early in her life she faced many hardships, some of which include boarding school, journey to sobriety, building a life and overcoming cancer. She endured and overcame all these feats and also dedicated almost 30 years of service to the Gila River Indian Community.

One constant in her life that kept her going was God whom she once lost but found when she couldn't stand alone. From there she dedicated the rest of her life to the servitude of God through her contributions to the First Presbyterian church as doing custodial work with her mother the late Ernestine Blackwater, choir member, Sunday school teacher, Bible School teacher, van driver, Deacon, Elder, Clerk of Session and Ruling Elder.

Survivors include a daughter, Debbie Eschief of Sacaton; 6 grandchildren; two sisters, Loranda Saxton of Pennsylvania and Renalda Blackwater of Phoenix, two brothers, Lee R. Blackwater Jr. of Phoenix and Merlin Blackwater of San Carlos. She was preceded in death by her son Milo Honhongva; two sisters, Sandra Blackwater and Gloria Jackson; her mother Ernestine Blackwater; her father, Lee R. Blackwater Sr.