Maymont's 'most famous resident' dies at 105
By George Copeland Jr. / Richmond Free Press
To walk through Richmond's Maymont neighborhood is to experience the work of its most famous resident, Ida L. Cheatham, who died Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, at 105.
The centenarian was the first to live on South Meadow Street, and her influence is still visible in the neighborhood - from her home and the plants she cultivated to the lives she touched over the years.
"I know people are gonna miss her, because everyone knew Miss Cheatham," said her niece, Ida Mitchell. "She loved the Maymont area, she loved people, she fed people, she helped people with school, she helped people with life."
Cheatham was born Feb. 3, 1920, in Doswell, the second-oldest of a dozen siblings. She later moved to Richmond as a teenager for work, taking up various roles over the years such has housekeeping, house management and catering.
After her retirement, Cheatham remained deeply involved in the community. She was the last surviving member of the Maymont Garden Club, whose beautification efforts still enhance the neighborhood's greenery.
"A lot of what you see in especially the lower part of Maymont was really due to my grandmother and other ladies," Mitchell said.
Cheatham was also a familiar, cherished figure for many in the community, with her dog, Oprah, freely roaming throughout the neighborhood. In 2023, she was honored with an honorary street renaming at 1800 S. Meadow St.
One of Cheatham's personal sayings reflected her life and outlook: "Drink from the sky and eat from the earth and depend on your holy creator, whoever you believe that may be.
According to Mitchell, this motto was reflected in her diet, as Cheatham drank water every day and ate green vegetables with each meal.
Cheatham was preceded in death by her daughter, Elizabeth H. Mitchell, and grandchildren Sheryl Mitchell-Thomas and Cary Mitchell. She is survived by her children, Carla Cheatham-Debrough and Carl Mason Spencer; three sisters-in-law; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, along with other relatives.
A viewing will be held at Joseph Jenkins Jr. Funeral Home at 2011 Grayland Ave. on Friday, Feb. 28, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A funeral will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, March 1, at Jerusalem Baptist Church on 16210 Short Cut Road in Doswell.
