Peggy Sue (Speer) Cerchione

Peggy Sue Speer Cerchione of 371 Lawrence Greene Road, Deep Gap, passed away

Thursday, January 1, 2026. She is at long last reunited with her beloved husband

Angelo Cerchione who passed away 20 years ago on Thanksgiving Day, 2005.

Peggy knew she would be reunited with him one day. Her belief was more than faith,

but certainty. The story of why she knew this goes back to 1965.

Sixty years ago, she had medical complications in a hospital and was bleeding out. A

nurse propped up her body to slow the blood loss, and raced into the hall to call the

doctor.

They didn’t come close to losing her. For a few minutes, they did.

Mom found herself floating out of her body. She saw the doctor as the nurse called to

him, and strangely, saw him toss his full coffee cup against the wall.

She wanted to tell the people making such a fuss over her not to worry, because she

knew everything would be all right. My Dad, Angelo, was the type of man who would

marry again, and he would marry someone who would love my sister, even as an infant.

Her only concern was she thought her father, Ralph, had something he really needed to

say to her.

But then she found herself being drawn to a place of celestial light, and a figure in robes

with a white beard stood to welcome her with open arms. But also, with a slight shake of

His head, seeming to say that while she was welcome… ‘Not yet.’

And then she awoke, back in her body, as the doctors had saved her and brought her

back from death.

 

She later asked the doctor why he had tossed his coffee against the wall. He laughed,

thinking someone had told her. He said he was afraid someone could slip in all that

coffee if he dropped it on the floor.

Which further confirmed her experience was real.

The figure, who she thought of simply as a Christ figure, she later recognized from the

photos in Bahá’í books as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

But what she took with her at the time was an understanding that God is real, heaven is

real, and that joy and glory await us in the life to come.

I want everyone who knows and loves Peggy to take that faith with you.

To understand that Peggy is still with you, and still loves you, and can be with you all the

time, wherever you go.

Peggy loves you. God loves you. Please let the light they give fill your lives.

Thank you.

 

Peggy was born on June 29, 1940 at 1:20 pm in Little Rock, Arkansas to Ralph Eugene

Speer and Nora Ella Jones, who were both 23 at the time of their daughter’s birth.

After graduating high school, Peggy planned to go to college, but a recent graduate she

knew came back to speak to the school about joining the US Air Force.

She joined the Air Force, and met her future husband Angelo in 1958.

Peggy and Angelo married on February 3, 1961.

Their first child, Chandra Lynn Cerchione, was born in 1965 in Suffolk, England, where

Angelo was stationed overseas.

Their second, Ralph Angelo Cerchione, was born in 1970 in the hospital in the Naval

Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Peggy took up weaving, became an accomplished weaver and ran a successful

weaving business for many years.

After Angelo’s retirement, the whole family moved to Watauga County, North Carolina,

ultimately designing and building Angelo and Peggy’s dream home in Deep Gap, which

they completed over 40 years ago and where Peggy resided for the rest of her life.

 

Peggy became a Bahá’í in 1984, moved by the understanding that God is one,

humanity is one and all true religion comes from God. Her son Ralph had already

become a Bahá’í and her husband Angelo soon embraced the Faith as well.

When the Klan marched in Boone in the 90s, seeking to create conflict and contention,

and thus, more press, Angelo and Peggy were instrumental in contacting local churches

and all other religious groups to hold services and draw as many people as possible out

of Boone’s downtown. This response also led to the Unity Festival – initially started as

counterprogramming to this racial division but which continued for the next two

decades, eventually becoming App State’s Diversity Festival, focusing on creating

understanding and appreciation of diverse backgrounds of every kind, from local

mountain culture to the most far-flung of international students and travelers.

After Angelo’s passing in 2005, Peggy became increasingly active in her local sewing

shop and began working at Sew Original and teaching classes there.

Peggy loved all her students, but especially loved the dozens of children she taught to

sew. So many parents and guardians let her know their child had blossomed under her

care, and had become happier, more confident and otherwise so much better off.

Peggy loved to see them succeed in their work, and celebrated their successes.

One of the moments she loved best was when a student realized they could take their

sewing machine home and do all kinds of great projects on their own, without her.

Peggy is survived by her beloved daughter Chandra Cerchione Peltier, her son-in-law

Chris Peltier, her granddaughter Anatasia Isolde Peltier, her daughter’s mother-in-law

and her dear friend Sally Sawyer, and her son Ralph Cerchione.

 

Online condolences may be shared at www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com

Austin and Barnes Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the Cerchione family.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Peggy Sue (Speer) Cerchione, please visit our floral store.