Cheri Joyce Payton Atkins

Funeral services for Cheri Joyce Payton Atkins, 76, will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, November 7, 2020 at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 1815 Marshall Street, Shreveport, LA. A visitation will be held at 12:00 p.m. until the service time. Officiating the service will be Brother Bill Christian. Burial will follow at the Bethsaida Cemetery in Ida, LA. Cheri passed away peacefully in her sleep after a valiant fight against kidney cancer, preceded by a parade of family and friends stopping by for hugs and kisses. She was born, raised, and spent her life in Shreveport, Louisiana. She attended Woodlawn High School and continued to enjoy gatherings with her WHS Lunch Group. Cheri was loved dearly by her family and everyone who met her. She loved children, provided childcare to many, and was affectionately known as Mama, Mimi, Ree-ree, Cherokee-ette Mom, Girl Scout Mom, and Sunshine. She touched so many lives with her young spirit and cheerful disposition. Trips to Ida were her favorite as she loved all of her aunts, uncles, and abounding cousins, and spent many holidays and weekends with her beloved extended family. She loved cooking, gardening, and fishing for white perch, because those are the best, of course. Cheri's greatest love and accomplishment was her family, and she adored her daughters, Michele Starsiak (Adam Tillotson), Melanie Murphy and husband, Randy, Karen Smith and husband, Brad, her grandchildren, Brandon Smith and wife, Dallas, Kendall Riggs and husband Tyler, Grant Starsiak, Adam Starsiak and great-grandchildren Kolby Riggs, Hayden Smith, Easton Riggs, Ally Gauthier, Emma Riggs, and Ella Smith, all who are left to cherish her memory. She was preceded in death by her husband, James Martin Atkins, and her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Grant B Payton, Jr. The family would like to thank Dr. Anil Veluvolu and the Willis-Knighton healthcare systems for their supportive and attentive care. Honoring Cheri as pallbearers will be Talmadge Dial, Punkin Dial, Don Dale, Jr., Jerry Moore, Lynn Arnold, and Jimmy Robinson.