Cheryl died peacefully and on her terms on November 14, 2021 at Laurel Place Hospice, Surrey. She is survived by her sister, Gail and her circle of dear friends.
Cheryl taught in Delta for most of her teaching career, instilling a love of literature and a deep curiosity about the world we live in, to her students. Cheryl adored her cat, Sergio and was an avid English Country dancer, square dancer and book club enthusiast.
A private burial service will take place at Heritage Gardens Cemetery, Surrey.
From the recollections of Cheryl’s long-time friend, Louise.
“Cheryl and I began our teaching careers in Tsawwassen, at English Bluff Elementary in the 1970’s. We were both in our twenties and excited about working with our students. Cheryl taught Grade 5’s.
She was also a very talented musician, and had studied music at UBC, and took on the music program for intermediate students at the school. She played piano and harp and enjoyed singing.
Before Cheryl moved to White Rock, she lived one block away from my husband and I on Centennial Beach in Boundary Bay. We used to go for long walks together, she thoroughly enjoyed watching the wonderful bird life that flourished along the shoreline. Cheryl had a great affinity for the ocean and even in her last days we would go down to Crescent Beach and just enjoy looking out across the water.
Eventually Cheryl moved to a school in Ladner and continued to instil a love of literature and a deep curiosity about the world we live in, to her students.
Towards the end of her career she worked exclusively with Home Hospital students. This was based in Burnsview Secondary in North Delta. This assignment came with many challenges but Cheryl thrived on helping her students achieve, she had really found her calling.
Cheryl was intelligent, she had strong skills of observation and was able with ease, to succinctly and accurately sum up situations.
She was particular about her clothing choices and always managed to look comfortable yet classy.
Cheryl had an amazing memory, she could recall students’ names and how they brightened her day. She had a wonderfully dry sense of humour and a beautiful smile. I will miss her greatly but always remember her bravery, ability to rise above adversity and her genuinely kind nature.”
0 Comments
Laura Eriksson
Cheryl sparkled her way into our family when we first met at UBC in 1964. Her life was infused with curiosity, a musical love of life and its diverse layers. Our conversations were many and rich.
We also carried sorrow together… which was an eternal invisible bond.
After graduation, my life led us to Chicago, and we
lost touch. Thankfully, we did connect many years later.
Sven and I send our condolences to Gail and to those who cherished this dear gifted woman.
May she Rest In Grace and Peace.
laura and Sven Eriksson
Christman Lee
I had the pleasure of working with Cheryl at Burnsview Jr. Secondary in the 1990’s and 2000’s. She was very professional and I enjoyed talking to her about the students she had. I remember visiting Cheryl at her new place in South Surrey and noticed that the kitchen cabinets were much lower than normal. Being on the short side, she had the cabinets built so she could easily access them. Very clever thinking! RIP Cheryl.
Martina Eastman
Dear family and friends of Cheryl.
Our deepest sympathies to all of you.
Cheryl was a very special young woman. We were all very fond of her and grateful for the ‘young love’ she shared with our brother Piet. Sadly , he was taken from her and from us too soon, and we lost touch … even though she still lived nearby.
May she Rest In Peace and connect with all the loves who have gone before her.
The Traas siblings:
Tini, Laura, Rina, John, Henk
Dorin Sherriff
I met Cheryl first as a customer, then we attended a dance studio together. Louise’s comment about her being particular with her clothing choices….. I helped her make all those choices look good on her !! We often attended dance sessions at the Scottish Centre in Vancouver. Many interesting discussions about life and the world took place at my home. She told me the last time that I saw her that she was ill…. I think of her every time I drive past her South Surrey home. Condolences to Gail and all those that knew her better than I…… and loved her proud spirit and soul.
Jacquie Stinson
I knew Cheryl through the contra dance community and although I didn’t know her well I would meet her around White rock and we would happily chat about our shared interests. She was always pleasant and friendly asking with intensity about this and that dancer. She carried an intelligent gentle presence and I send her family and friends my condolences.
Erika Bennedik
Cheryl started taking violin lessons with me way back in 1985. She eventually gave up, aware of the fact that she would not be able do play her beloved dance tunes as well as she had hoped to. . We remained friends until the end, sharing our love for nature and for cats.
I admired her intelligence, spirit and determination. The latter helped her so much controlling Parkinson’s. My husband and I took her along on a few outings during the last two years. I have a beautiful picture of her, hand feeding a red winged blackbird at the Reifel sanctuary just before Covid hit . I will remember how happy she was at that moment.
After being struck so hard by illness, she has deserved to rest in peace.
Brandon Boisvert
During the 1990s I was one of the home hospital students lucky enough to have had Ms Steinhauer as my teacher. For several difficult, lonely years she was my connection to the outside world, and her efforts to ensure my education left an enormous impact upon my life. She cared deeply for her students, and this came through with every visit. Always she would go above and beyond, often providing emotional support on top of the lessons. Her job was definitely not an easy one, and she had to fight continuously against a system that was all too willing to leave us behind. I will be forever grateful for all she did. It is no exaggeration to state that without her help I probably would not have made it through those years.
She instilled within me an appreciation for literature, and this grew over the years to inspire my career choice. Without her having ensured my education and believing in me, I would never have believed myself to be capable of creating works worth sharing.
We only recently reconnected during 2020, but it had been such a privilege to speak again, and especially to be able to share how great of a gift she gave to me. She touched so many lives in such positive ways, and I hope she understood how much she was valued by those who knew her.
Ms Steinhauer was such a wonderfully unique, intelligent, creative, bold soul and she will be greatly missed. Thank you for everything, Cheryl.
Gordon M. Brown
It is with great sadness, and a good deal of regret, that I found out only in the past 24 hours that Cheryl Steinhauer had passed in November.
I met Cheryl at a contra dance event in San Diego in August 2002. It was the only time I ever saw her in person, notwithstanding that what ensued was a deep friendship that lasted for more than 15 years.
At this dance Cheryl was quite popular among the men, who were eager to dance with her. After several dances I literally rushed to her, and asked for a dance. I was intrigued, to say the least. She was petite, slender, with short black hair, and a dollop of red on her lips. Her feet and ankles were also rather heavily taped up, and therein lies an important aspect of Cheryl’s life, which by many accounts was not easy.
We had some conversation during the break, and again at the local Claire de lune coffee shop later that night, where dancers often assembled afterward. Our friendship continued via too many emails to count, numerous lengthy “phone dates” that were no doubt hideously expensive, and greeting cards sent back-and-forth. (I felt compelled to send her only the finest cards that I could find, for I was aware that her sensibility and supreme good taste in all things required nothing less.)
Cheryl was extraordinarily refined, very articulate, and deeply interesting on so many levels. We talked of all the things we shared in common: our love of cats, our love of music of many kinds, our enthusiasm for folk-dancing, and our careers (or lapsed careers) as teachers comprised only part of the conversation that lasted so long. Cheryl was interested in just about everything, and very curious, whether the conversation turned to politics, or to her old Acura Integra which she loved to drive fast because it had a manual transmission and “can go like stink”! Her voice was absolutely lovely, with a lilt that suggested her partly Scottish background and Canadian nativity.
But she was plagued for much of her life by problems with her muscles, her tendons, and joints. Visits to doctors, specialists, and chiropractors seemed like routine, never-ending parts of her existence. I can only imagine that she was frequently in pain, even when (or maybe especially when) she went out dancing, which was surely integral to her life. About five years ago, her problems with chronic pain and coordination got markedly worse, and then, tragically, came the news that she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. We continued to converse until it became apparent that just writing a brief email imposed too much duress for her. I tried to stay in touch, and wrote to her on what turned out to be her final birthday last year. I never heard back from her.
Cheryl was, as is sometimes said, “One of One.” I hadn’t met anyone like her before, and have not since. I was extremely fond of her, as I’m sure she was of me, despite the 1,200 miles that separated us geographically. I am saddened, but not surprised, that she is gone, and I feel strongly that she departed in exactly the way she would have chosen for herself. My belated condolences to all her family and friends, whom I never had a chance to meet.