USMC Sgt Eric Cheek - Died March 21, 2019

Eric Cheek was born July 22, 1981 to Bruce and Jennifer Cheek. He grew up in Greentown Indiana, a small close-knit community.  He was passionate about family and loved spending time alongside his brother Adam and relatives. Some of Eric's most valued memories were camping in a RV with his grandparents, brother, and seven cousins. 

 It was interesting how much Eric enjoyed school. He loved interacting with his teachers, coaches, and most of all, friends. He was definitely a social butterfly! One of the most beloved things about Eric was that he was a true, loyal friend. Once you were his friend, you were ALWAYS his friend. While he tried to come across as "cool", he had such a compassionate heart, and would always do what he could to help out. Maybe it was assisting a friend in writing a school paper or bringing a flower every Friday during the school year to a female friend struggling in Chemistry class. He was true to the end. 

 Oh, how Eric loved sports!  He played baseball in elementary and later was in Cross Country, wrestling, basketball, and even helped out in other sports by keeping stats for the coaches.  He was a HUGE Peyton Manning fan. Ask Eric a question about this guy and he had the answer.  I need to say that Eric was extremely competitive in many areas; sports, video games, farkle, board games. Those he was playing against would think it was just for fun. But Eric was in it to win it!

Eric also loved movies! Star Wars, Star Wars and more Star Wars! Indiana Jones, Goonies, Forest Gump, Braveheart to name a few I believe he watched Titanic 68 times and knew every detail of that fated event. 

 Following graduation at Easten High School, Eric attended Indiana University for one year. Then is 2002, Eric enlisted in the United States Marines stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA. He served two tours of duty, both in Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His active duty ended 2007. He was proud and honored to serve his country. Later, Eric lived in Colorado and it was on March 21, 2019 that Eric's life ended. He was brought home to Indiana and is buried next to his grandma Cheek who passed away seven weeks before him.