Cheryl Joy Anderson
It is with deep sorrow that the Anderson family announces that Cheryl Joy Anderson passed due to cancer on May 15, 2022. Cheri’s roots in the area go back to 1915 when her great grandmother, a newly widowed woman, traveled with four daughters from Minnesota to settle permanently in Santa Barbara.
Cheri grew up in the 1950’s and was raised on More Mesa near where her grandparents named the road they lived on, Anderson Lane. She graduated from Dos Pueblos in 1971 and stayed in very close touch with many of her classmates throughout her life. She was a frequent and adventurous traveller, often traveling the world with her best friend, Kelly Spangler.
In the 70’s Cheri moved to San Francisco and furthered her career as a medical coding specialist. Her career allowed her to travel the world from Dubai to Germany, from Texas to Manhattan. She loved all Broadway musicals and was especially proud of her fellow DP graduate, the Broadway star, Howard McGillin. Cheri also loved mysteries and enjoyed streaming British mysteries, she had an amazing collection of vintage hats (thanks to her decades long enjoyment of thrift stores) and like her mother, adored chocolates, especially See’s Candies and Belgian chocolates.
Cheryl settled in Sebastopol, California where for many decades she shared the rural beauty of Sonoma County with her brother Dave and sister Patty. We will miss so much of Cheri, her fun loving spirit, her curiosity, her honesty and especially her strong sense of fairness and justice that continually shaped and informed the strong minded person that she was.
Cheryl was very loyal to her family, friends and adorable pets (the little ferocious papillon, Ollie and her gorgeous blue eyed, rag doll cat, Carson). In her last few years, she was grateful to her sister Patty for helping her manage her health concerns. With Patty at her side Cheri enjoyed long drives to the rugged Bodega coast, and most especially, it gave her the ability to stay in her cherished country home, where in her last days she so appreciated the springtime beauty of green meadows and the precious views of cows grazing on her fields. A special thank you goes to brother-in-law, Mark Jackson, who brought Cheri his specially crafted coffee each morning and did so many things to make her feel supported and comfortable.
We will remember Cheryl and miss her every single day. She is survived by sister Cynthia Anderson of Goleta, sister Patricia Anderson (Mark Jackson) of Sebastopol, brother James Anderson of Goleta, son Stephen Medlock-Todd (Alyx) of Albuquerque, NM and nephew Nicholas Krawchuk of Sebastopol. Cheri was predeceased by her father, Robert W. Anderson (1926-1986) mother, Joyce Anderson Caspers (1927-2013), and brother David Scott Anderson (1959-2016).