A selfless giver of love created friendships and built family everywhere she went
Our beloved Cher, Cheryl Ann Rinder, died of pancreatic cancer on June 6, 2022, in the evening after a joy-filled year of living each day to the fullest and spreading gratitude far and wide. While her passing was much too soon, Cher, a selfless giver of love, would rather we bask in the love she was able to share with us so generously than mourn her passing. Cher was born to Leanore (née Bergen) and Reginald Rinder in Rockville Centre, N.Y., on March 7, 1950. In 1953 the family moved to Panama, where Cheryl became the middle child of five, as a little sister and brother were added to the group. You would have wanted to see Cheryl's street in Panama, where she was the little leader of a small pack of neighborhood boys! (All the other kids her age happened to be boys.) As she grew there, she developed a love of the tropical climate and belonging to a large family. When Cheryl was 6, the Rinders moved to Bedford, N.Y., where Cher attended St. Patrick's parochial school and graduated from Fox Lane High School. In a piece of often-recounted family lore, Cher was robbed of the opportunity to meet her paternal grandfather because, as chief officer, he was lost at sea in the Bermuda Triangle in a storm, reportedly while following the captain’s orders to check the riggings at the stern. Her grandmother, still mourning the loss of her stillborn first child the previous year — a daughter — bravely birthed Cher’s father about a week later. After experiencing the loneliness of being an only child with few relatives (only the dear Canadian cousins), Reg Rinder never took a friend or family member for granted. Cher embodied that value, creating epic friendships and building family everywhere she traveled throughout her life. Not only did she carry and give birth to six children, but she also served as a loving stepmother and half-stepmother to a handful of others. Beyond her immediate family, the sparsity of her father’s side of the family was balanced by a prolific Irish clan on her mother’s side: the Bergens. Aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, international cousins, etc. abounded. Cher never missed the many destination family reunions over the course of the decades and, thanks to her own large brood, always contributed the largest contingent of attendees. She imparted the joys of celebrating family…
A selfless giver of love created friendships and built family everywhere she went
Our beloved Cher, Cheryl Ann Rinder, died of pancreatic cancer on June 6, 2022, in the evening after a joy-filled year of living each day to the fullest and spreading gratitude far and wide. While her passing was much too soon, Cher, a selfless giver of love, would rather we bask in the love she was able to share with us so generously than mourn her passing. Cher was born to Leanore (née Bergen) and Reginald Rinder in Rockville Centre, N.Y., on March 7, 1950. In 1953 the family moved to Panama, where Cheryl became the middle child of five, as a little sister and brother were added to the group. You would have wanted to see Cheryl's street in Panama, where she was the little leader of a small pack of neighborhood boys! (All the other kids her age happened to be boys.) As she grew there, she developed a love of the tropical climate and belonging to a large family. When Cheryl was 6, the Rinders moved to Bedford, N.Y., where Cher attended St. Patrick's parochial school and graduated from Fox Lane High School. In a piece of often-recounted family lore, Cher was robbed of the opportunity to meet her paternal grandfather because, as chief officer, he was lost at sea in the Bermuda Triangle in a storm, reportedly while following the captain’s orders to check the riggings at the stern. Her grandmother, still mourning the loss of her stillborn first child the previous year — a daughter — bravely birthed Cher’s father about a week later. After experiencing the loneliness of being an only child with few relatives (only the dear Canadian cousins), Reg Rinder never took a friend or family member for granted. Cher embodied that value, creating epic friendships and building family everywhere she traveled throughout her life. Not only did she carry and give birth to six children, but she also served as a loving stepmother and half-stepmother to a handful of others. Beyond her immediate family, the sparsity of her father’s side of the family was balanced by a prolific Irish clan on her mother’s side: the Bergens. Aunts, uncles, cousins, second cousins, international cousins, etc. abounded. Cher never missed the many destination family reunions over the course of the decades and, thanks to her own large brood, always contributed the largest contingent of attendees. She imparted the joys of celebrating family…
