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Obituary for Cheryl Marie Rathke
Cheryl was born in Denver in June of 1968 and placed under the care of Catholic Adoption Services. She was adopted by Roy and Agnes Falconer and raised in Denver.
Cheryl attended school in small Christian schools in the Denver area. She attended college at Northwestern College in St. Paul, Minnesota. She studied Choral Music and Bible and graduated magna cum laude in 1985. Cheryl had a beautiful singing voice and played the piano skillfully. She toured with her college music group doing performances in the region.
She moved back to Denver with her family and in 1991 started attending Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church doing intern choral work in the Music Department with conductor, Johnathan Brown. She also got a job as an elementary school Music Teacher at Gilpin Elementary, a magnet arts program in Denver. Steve started attending Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in 1993; met Cheryl and they were married in 1995. Steve joined the choir to meet Cheryl and was completely smitten. Cheryl and Steve moved to the south suburbs and started raising a family. Cheryl got a new job as Music Teacher at Mark Twain Elementary in Littleton. She later left the school to raise her kids.
Caelan, her first, was born in 1998, Christian in 1999, Alianna in 2002, Aedan in 2004, Shiona in 2006 and Brennan in 2008. Cheryl and Steve decided to homeschool the children. They attended a Biblical parenting class and later taught the class to new parents in the church for several years. Cheryl read a book on Christ- Centered Homeschool by Clay and Sally Clarkson. Cheryl also has befriended Sally Clarkson and Sally has mentored Cheryl. Cheryl grew in her faith and her role as a mom became a mission of motherhood. She has many deep and lasting relationships with many people across church, music and homeschool communities. Cheryl volunteered in homeschool options programs sharing knowledge and time, ensuring the success of the programs. She provided knowledge of children’s books and subjects and what was best for educating. She has shared and coached her kids and other moms and others who homeschool. Cheryl’s efforts have graduated the first four students from the home school. Caelan and Christian are graduating from Colorado Christian University in May 2021 and Alianna and Aedan are in CECS at Arapahoe Community College, graduating in the next few years. Cheryl has volunteered and worked at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in the children’s choirs as a conductor and accompanist, also leading Vacation Bible School Music and Preschool programs. Cheryl also was an avid crafter and sewing diva. She created quilts as gifts and created 8 pairs of flannel PJs every Christmas. Cheryl will be greatly missed by her family and many, many friends.
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Previous Events
Celebration of Life
Wednesday
12
May
11:00 AM5/12/2021 11:00:00 AM
Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church
10150 East Belleview Avenue Englewood, CO 80111
A reception will be held in the Community Center immediately following services. Services will conclude at the church. If you wish to view the live stream of Cheryl's service, please copy and paste the following into a search box: CHERYL RATHKE MEMORIAL SERVICE
