After 10 years of serving Madison County as County Coordinator, Allen Cherry is announcing his retirement. He will retire on July 29.
Cherry was born and raised in Madison and is the son of Lucile Cherry and Mark Cherry. He has one brother, Doug Cherry. He has been married to his wife, Linda, for 44 years and together they have two children: Darryl Cherry and Diane Head and five grandchildren: Tucker, Ellie, Lucy, Marcus and Macy. He graduated from Madison County High School in 1968 and graduated from North Florida Community College in 1970. He went on to pursue his education further and graduated from Florida State University's School of Business in 1972.
Before taking on the position of County Coordinator, Cherry worked at the Dixie Packers plant for 33 years. Fifteen of those years were spent as plant manager.
In addition to these achievements, Cherry is the former chair of the North Florida Economic Development Partnership and has been the executive director of the Madison County Development Council for nine years. He also served two terms as a County Commissioner from 1984 to 1990. He was recognized by the Florida Economic Development Council as The Eunice Sullivan Economic Development Professional of the Year in 2015.
Cherry's job as County Coordinator is a jam-packed one. Cherry and the department heads of the county work together on economic development projects and road projects. If a citizen has a complaint or issue within the county, it's Cherry's job to try to deal with the issue in the best way possible.
“I am very fortunate to work in Madison County,” said Cherry. “I will miss all [of] the employees here.”
Cherry's plan for retirement includes traveling. He hopes that his first travel destination will be Yellowstone National Park. His wife, Linda, was a medical record keeper for the Madison County Memorial Hospital for 43 years but retired last year, so it is no doubt the two will enjoy their retirement together.