By James C. Sherlock

Cheri Shores died Saturday, May 13.

She was simply one of the most gracious, generous, skilled and inspiring people I have ever met.

Cheri and her husband Lance in 2006 opened their first Citrus restaurant in Virginia Beach a couple of blocks from where my late wife and I lived.

Jo Ann was limited in her mobility, but it was close enough for us to go together.  We came to know Cheri, who was always there, like a neighbor.

Our first visit to that restaurant the week it opened was a revelation – a breakfast and lunch place that served gourmet quality meals at a blue-collar price.

The signature home made chicken salad at the center of a plate of fresh citrus was an inspiration.

A welcoming presence, and an absolute delight, was Cheri Shores.

She was the designer of the restaurant, the source of many of the very special menu items, a co-owner, the manager, the accountant, and a teacher and confidant to her staff

She was the soul of that place.

She and her husband came up with the idea of a breakfast and lunch restaurant, she once told me, so they and their employees could spend time with their kids.

Those employees were devoted to her.  And she and Lance to them.

Before her very untimely death from pancreatic cancer, after supporting them all through COVID, she and Lance retired and gave their two, constantly-packed restaurants to their employees.

That is not a surprise if you knew them.

The Virginian-Pilot has written a touching and fitting tribute.

Read it and be moved.