Cheryl Lynn Oehler
Cheryl Lynn Oehler, 61 of Peoria, Az. Went to her heavenly home to be with her loved ones on February 20, 2015. She was born on January 26, 1954 in Marion, Ohio to Carl E. and Pauline G. Oehler.
She graduated from Elgin High School in 1972 and from The Ohio State University in 1976 with a degree in elementary education. She was employed by Elgin School District for 13 years where she taught 4th grade and Kindergarten. She relocated to Arizona in the fall of 1989 where she continued to teach Kindergarten for the remainder of her teaching career. In 2013 she retired from active teaching and in 2014 taught Kindergarten through Dysart’s Smart Schools Program. She was currently working as a substitute teacher in Dysart as well as Nadaburg School District. She was substituting at a Dysart school when she suffered cardiac arrest.
Cheryl was a lover of music, especially her Ohio State University Marching Band. Having a lovely singing voice she made music a part of her life as well as in the classroom. One mother mentioned how beautiful her voice was when she sang “Thank God for Kids” at Kindergarten Graduation. She and her students made time capsules containing pictures and events of each child’s Kindergarten year which were to be opened upon their graduation from high school. She attended many graduation parties where the students opened the time capsule.
She is a great loss to the teaching profession because she impacted all those she touched. With great love for children, she wonderfully loved, nurtured, molded and educated so many children to believe they could be a success at whatever they wanted to become. No matter what race or economic background, each child left her classroom with the feeling of self-worth and importance. She, most of all, instilled the love of learning. She was a beautiful blessing from God to all who knew her.
She was an avid sports fan, loving her OSU Buckeyes and her Arizona professional Cardinals and Suns. She especially loved the Arizona sunrises and sunsets, sharing them with all her friends on Facebook.
Cheryl was of Lutheran faith and while living in Ohio was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church of Prospect where she grew up.
Survivors include her mother, Pauline Oehler of 20014 N. Trading Post Drive, Sun City West, AZ 85375
Brother Russell and family of Tigard, OR., nephew Ian Hoffman, the light of her life, of Litchfield, AZ.
Aunts and Uncles Tom and Peggy Knickel of Sun City West, Carolyn Daugherty and her husband Robert Mathiasen of Sedona, Az., Vera Oehler of Prospect and many loving cousins.
Preceding her in death was her father Carl and her beloved sister Kim Hoffman.
Per Cheryl’s request, she was cremated at Camino Del Sol Mortuary in Sun City West. Celebration of Life Ceremony will be held Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 1:30 PM at the Elgin High School cafeteria, 1150 Keener Road South, Marion, OH 43302. A scholarship honoring her commitment to education is being created. May Cheryl’s love and legacy live on in those whose lives she touched.
"THE ROSE STILL GROWS BEYOND THE WALL"
Near a shady wall a rose once grew,
Budded and blossomed in God's free light:
Watered and fed by morning dew,
Shedding its sweetness day and night.
As it grew and blossomed fair and tall,
Slowly rising to loftier height,
It came to a crevice in the wall,
Through which there shone a beam of light.
Onward it crept with added strength
With never a thought of fear or pride,
It followed the light through the crevice length,
And unfolded itself on the other side.
The light, the dew, the broadening view
Were found the same as they were before.
And it lost itself in beauties new.
Breathing its fragrance more and more.
Shall claim of death cause us to grieve,
And make our courage faint or fall?
Nay, let us faith and hope receive,
The rose still grows beyond the wall.
Scattering fragrance far and wide,
Just as it did in days of yore.
Just as it did on the other side,
Just as it will forevermore.
A. L. Frink
Stofcheck-Ballinger Funeral Home