Mary Cheaney Ringo was born in Mayfield, Kentucky to Philip McDaniel Ringo and Jessie Wilson Ringo on May 5th, 1944. She grew up in Clinton and Lexington, Kentucky, attending Picadome Elementary School, Lafayette High School, and the University of Kentucky, where she majored in journalism and was a member of the Chi Omega sorority.

In her early career, Cheaney worked for the Louisville Courier Journal as well as Gibson Greeting cards in Cincinnati. She later earned a master's degree in library science from Rosary College in River Forest, Illinois and began a second career as a librarian. She became the Library Director at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix and was later a medical librarian in Sierra Vista, Arizona.

After retiring, she returned to Lexington, Kentucky and spent her last six months living with her daughter near Boston, Massachusetts. Even in retirement, Cheaney continued to apply her talents for research and archive retrieval. She loved genealogy. She was very active in learning about her family history and participated in the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was also an avid fan of Kentucky basketball and loved pretty much anything cute, especially kitty cats. Perhaps most importantly, she had a beautiful smile and loved to laugh.

Cheaney is survived by her two brothers (Jim and John Ringo) and their families; her ex-husband (Dennis Haberer); her two children (Zack and Jessica Haberer); and her five grandchildren (Quinn, Maeve, and Alistair O'Donnell; Phillip and Lukas Haberer).

A memorial service will be held for Cheaney on Saturday March 29th at 9 a.m., Milward's Funeral Home, 391 Southland Dr, Lexington, KY. All are welcome to attend. Please reach out to her daughter with any questions (jessicaehaberer@gmail.com).