On her birthday, January 30th, 2024, Karyn Follis Cheatham, of Helena, MT passed away peacefully at home after a 2 year battle with cancer. She was surrounded by family. She was 81 years old.

Karyn was born in Oberlin, Ohio to Benjamin Follis and Elizabeth Blackburn as an only child. She attended college at Ohio State University, where she majored in History and English and met her husband. Later the family moved to Michigan and welcomed two children.

After a move to Nashville in the 70s, Karyn joined a writer's group and she embarked on a journey of writing that included fiction and nonfiction books, as well as reviews for a regional newspaper, magazine articles, and poetry. Her work as an author brought her many accolades throughout her prolific career, because of her accurate historical representation of Native Americans and African Americans. Karyn was also an accomplished visual artist, photographer, speaker, and historian. Being very active in her community in MT, she joined photography groups, artist groups, and participated in many regional invitational art shows where she exhibited works ranging from book cover design to photography to multimedia collages. On top of this, speaking engagements in schools, churches, and libraries were a part of her yearly commitments. In more recent years she added book editing and copywriting to her repertoire of disciplines.

Throughout her life, she also had a passion for soccer. While in Nashville she became a formally trained coach working with regional travel teams and assisting in the odd high school program. She also became a player, even getting her photo in the sports section of a prominent Nashville newspaper.

Upon her divorce Karyn moved to Helena, MT with her two horses CJ and Donna, and her dog, Taz, to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in the West. Though she had visited all corners of the Western United States she always felt a special kindred to Montana and Helena in particular. She was a living example of fortitude and determination by finding her path in life and overcoming whatever hurdles that were in the way.

She is survived by her children Nisah Cheatham of Chicago, IL, and Onika Lowrey of Nashville, TN. Karyn will be remembered for many things, chief among them as a great mother, a respected writer, and a talented visual artist.

A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later date. Simple Cremation Montana has assisted the family.