Passed away peacefully on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 in Manassas. 

Cheryl Elaine Halling Blindauer was a native of Mitchell, South Dakota.  She attended school there and started her love of education as a teacher in a one room schoolhouse. She continued working in the education field in many towns in South Dakota and in Indio, CA.  She met and married her husband in 1946 and they moved to Southern California in 1968.  In 2003 she relocated to Woodbridge, VA.

She was preceded in death by her husband Colman Blindauer, and son, Dean.  She is survived by three sons, Denis and wife, Barbara, of Woodbridge, VA, Timothy and wife, Janice of Indio, CA, Neil and wife, Karen, of Mesa, AZ, and two daughters, Nancy Blindauer and husband, Robert Simmons, of Newton, KS, and Teresa Williams and husband, Bennet, of Wyle, TX.  She is also survived by eleven grandchildren and three great grandchildren, and one sister, Beverly Johnson, of Mitchell, South Dakota.

Cheryl also had a deep love of piano music and not only spent time teaching piano to her children and grandchildren but too many of her neighbors' children.  She also enjoyed genealogy and traced the Blindauer and Halling family to their roots in Europe.  In addition, she enjoyed sewing and gardening and many family members fondly remember the grapefruits and lemons that she sent them from the trees in her yard.  She also frequently sent dates or date bread.

The family will receive friends from 3-6 pm on Sunday, January 29th, at Miller Funeral Home, 3200 Golansky Blvd., Woodbridge.  Church services and burial will take place at a later date in Indio, CA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, P.O. Box 96011, Washington, DC 20090-6011 or phone donations to the Association may be made by calling 1-800-272-3900.