Memorial page for Victor T. Cheney
November 7, 1918 ~ March 16, 2010 (age 91 Years Old)
U.S.A.F. Lt. Col. (Retired) Victor True Cheney died peacefully at 2:45 p.m., on March 16, 2010, surrounded by the love of his three children at his bedside in Fort Walton Beach Medical Center. Col. Cheney has been a resident of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., for the past 55 years. Victor was born Nov. 7, 1918, in Lynn, Mass. His parents were divorced for most of his youth, so he was raised by his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Day. He graduated from Lynn English High School and much later Okaloosa-Walton J.C., University of West Florida, and obtained his M.S. in Criminal Justice from Troy State University. Victor was working on his PhD in Criminology at Florida State University. Col. Cheney taught Criminal Justice classes at both Eglin and Hurlburt Air Force Bases.
While attending F.S.U. he was greatly affected by the Ted Bundy serial rape-murders of the co-eds there. This compelled him to seek a solution to the sex offender problem. Vic has written three books, 13 magazine articles, four pamphlets, on castration treatment for sex offenders and lectured over five times on the subject. He has been interviewed on radio and television three times each as an expert on the same subject.
He had joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1939 and retired in 1965 from active duty. Victor served his country around the world from France, Germany, North Africa, Egypt, Turkey, India, Korea to Alaska as a communication and electronics officer. After he retired Vic worked for Bendix Radio Corporation as an electronics engineer, testing and installing critical components of the AN/FPS-85 Space Radar near Portland, Fla., on Eglin Air Force Base. He later worked for Thompson Ramo-Woolridge, Inc. developing and testing a tactical air control system at Eglin Air Force Base. Cheney was an active member of the Okaloosa County Republican Committee and ran for Sherriff in 1972 and 1976. Victor was also an avid deep-sea fisherman and after he retired was the charter boat captain for Fishing Azure Like It. It is important to note that Victor Cheney is the person responsible for bringing four cannons to Fort Walton Beach with the help of the Optimist Club. As a military man, he felt any fort should have cannons.
He loved to sing and his tenor voice was a great addition to the choirs he joined during his lifetime. Even in later years on his walks around the neighborhood he would suddenly burst into song, either Gilbert and Sullivan, or a hymn. On each Sunday he would faithfully listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on TV. His love of great music is shared by his whole family. Vic was dedicated to physical fitness, lifting weights, and walking daily into his 90's.
Vic is preceded in death by his first wife of 26 years, Thelma Helen (Badger) Cheney, who died May 3, 1968. They had three children, Thelma Victoria (Vikki Cheney) Berry of Bend, Ore., Joyce Patricia Bridgeman of Reno, Nev., and Michael John Cheney of Fort Walton Beach. Victor has seven grandchildren, Nick Berry, Susan (Berry) Menne, Crystal Tao Wai, Jefferson Bridgeman, Jason Bridgeman, Doria Cheney and Luke Cheney. He also has four great-grandchildren, Mitchel Berry, Cooper Berry, Collin Bridgeman and Sydney Bridgeman. Victor re-married in 1970 to Edna Earl (Edie Nelson) Cheney, a nurse anesthetist at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center. They were married for 29 years until her death on May 9, 1999.
The Cheney family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to Dad's skilled and dedicated caregivers, Susan Faulkner, Napoleon Pearce and Pat Phillips. Victor is deeply loved by his whole family, neighbors and friends; he will be greatly missed.
Friends are invited to the McLaughlin Funeral Home, 17 Chestnut Ave., Fort Walton Beach, on Saturday March 20, 2010, for visitation at noon. The funeral ceremony will start there at 1 p.m. Burial follows at Beal Memorial Cemetery.