Louise Cherille Mayo

Kind and funny, Cherille had a wonderful ability to connect with people and a genuine compliment for everyone she met. She was truly interested in who you were and how you were doing, and she never let a busy day get in the way of that. She loved hearing people’s life stories and sharing her own, especially memories of growing up in Clayton, North Carolina.

Cherille was born on December 14, 1944, in Clayton, the oldest child of John W. Mayo and Louise Atwater Holland Mayo, whose first name she shared. She spent her childhood riding around town with her father, who served for many years as mayor of Clayton while also working as an electrician, LP gas salesman, car salesman and volunteer firefighter. Her love of animals started early. She caught lizards, tied a string around them and fastened it to her top button so they could ride on her shoulder or pop in and out of her pocket. She and her sister Eleanor had a goat named Sparky who pulled them around the yard in a little cart and ate their Easter grass. When she wanted a horse, she simply asked a man in town if she could have his. Her father always said, “You never know if you don’t ask,” and she came home with Trigger. At Clayton High School she was homecoming queen and busy in every social activity, and she played basketball for the Comets, though she always joked, with a smile, about how badly she played.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina in 1968. Her early working years took her to Washington, D.C., where she delivered position papers to members of Congress, and to the Georgia General Assembly, where she worked with the Fulton County House Delegation alongside Representatives Grace Hamilton and Julian Bond. She taught school in Carrollton, Georgia, where she also directed the choir, and taught English composition at Meridian Junior College in Mississippi.

Her interest in people led her to a career in vocational rehabilitation and crisis counseling. After earning a master’s degree in vocational rehabilitation counseling from Mississippi State University in 1974, she taught at the Emory University Rehabilitation Research Center, led programs in Memphis for adults with physical and mental disabilities, and later directed vocational rehabilitation services nationwide for GAB Business Services in Atlanta. Over the years she helped countless people recover from injuries, live with disabilities, and return to work.

In 1996 Cherille joined her sister at Eleanor M. Ross & Associates, where she worked as a crisis counselor. After September 11, 2001, she went to New York to help people cope with the trauma of the attacks. In her later years she assisted older adults: sitting beside them at bingo,

watching old movies, helping with meals, and writing to their families after every visit. She called it the best job she ever had. A pianist and lover of music and the arts, Cherille was a longtime docent at the Fox Theatre and ushered at venues across Atlanta, including the Woodruff Arts Center and the Ferst Center for the Arts. She also enjoyed travel, classic movies, and a good mystery novel. Animals were a lifelong love, and her nephew fondly remembers her dogs Thunder and Lightning, Houdini and Cherie. When a friend moving across the country left two dogs in her care, one turned out to be expecting and soon had eleven puppies. Cherille treated them like her own children and could hardly bear to part with them. She kept two, bought several books of baby names, and never could settle on names, so they were forever “Little Boy” and “Little Girl.” Animals always seemed to know they were in good hands with her. Cherille’s gentleness never left her, even in her final years. She lit up when family walked into the room, and she never lost her love of ice cream. Her sister, Eleanor, cared for her devotedly until she passed in 2025, and Eleanor’s son Trent and his wife Kelsey carried that care forward for the rest of her life. Cherille was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Eleanor. She is survived by her brother, John; her nephews, Trent and Trae; and their children. Her family will remember her kindness, her encouragement, and her love of good stories and good food. A service will be held at 10:00am on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Maplewood Cemetery in Clayton, North Carolina. Funeral arrangements are being provided by McLaurin Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Cherille’s memory to LifeLine Animal Project or Atlanta Humane Society, in honor of her lifelong love of animals. Memorial gifts may be made online at LifeLine Animal Project or Atlanta Humane Society.