Cheryl 'Cookie' Shepherd, taught dance

FROM the swing on the porch of her grandparents' house in St. Helena Island, S.C., Cheryl Vernae Grant could hear the gospel songs from a small church across the road.

She particularly recalled the song, "Come On in This House:"

Now you know there's no need for you

Standin' there cryin'

Cause you know your cryin' won't

Ease your mind.

Such songs shaped Cheryl's spiritual life and led her to a lifetime of devotion to the Baptist church.

Cheryl Vernae Grant, a schoolteacher and dance instructor who founded a dance company for young people in Philadelphia, died Jan. 17 of complications from a respiratory condition. She was 61 and lived in South Philadelphia.

She became Cheryl Shepherd after her marriage to Ronald Shepherd in 1974.

Cheryl was the mother of Chaz Lamar Shepherd, actor, singer and songwriter, whom his mother threw out of her dance class when he was a kid because of his "funky attitude."

However, "Chaz became the joy and assignment of her life," her family said. "She would dedicate her life to Chaz's call in life. Whatever wisdom and excellence you see in him is a reflection of her."

Cheryl, known to family and friends as "Cookie," was born in Harlem, to Helen Grant and Daniel Martin Sr. She moved to St. Helena Island in the early '50s, where she was raised primarily by her maternal grandparents, the late William Boles Chaplin and Louise Capers Chaplin.

Cheryl was baptized at Ebenezer Baptist Church, in St. Helena, and was the drum major in the St. Helena High School band.

She spent summers in New York City with her mother and stepfather, the late Joseph Porter, and two sisters, Donna and Kimberly. She took a summer job at Macy's.

Cheryl went on to study at Spelman College, in Atlanta; Allen University, in Columbia, S.C.; and Montclair State University, in New Jersey, as she pursued degrees in health, physical education and dance. She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

She met her future husband at Allen University, and together they traveled and sang with the university choir.

She moved to Newark, N.J., where she taught physical education and coached girls' track at Malcolm X Shabazz High School.

Soon after their marriage in 1974, she and Shep, as he was called, moved to Philadelphia, her husband's hometown. Chaz, their only child, was born in 1977.

Cheryl taught at Warren G. Harding Middle School and later at William W. Meredith Elementary. She started a dance program at Meredith, and also taught dance at Freedom Theatre.

She opened the city's first young people's dance company, Lessons in Dance Studio, from which she expelled Chaz. "She used her son as an example to the other students, showing that no one was exempt from the excellent behavior she expected," her family said.

Cheryl was on the board of the Annenberg Theater.

In later years, she was overjoyed by the birth of a granddaughter, Harlem Sorah Shepherd.

Her marriage ended in divorce.

Besides her son and sisters, Donna Cunningham and Kimberly Porter, she is survived by her mother, Helen Porter-Spahn; her father, Daniel Martin Sr.; three brothers, Daniel Martin Jr., Max Martin and George Robert Chaplin; and her granddaughter.

Services: 11 a.m. today at Mount Enon Baptist Church, 500 Snyder Ave. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in St. Helena Island.