Cheryl Staerk

Cheryl Diane Staerk, 75, of Marshalltown, Iowa, formerly of Windom, Minnesota, passed away peacefully on Monday, January 2, 2023 at the Iowa River Hospice in Marshalltown.

Per the wishes of Cheryl and her family, her body has been donated for medical research to the University of Iowa Deeded Body Program. A Celebration of Life service will be held by the family at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame & Museum, 1 Sprint Capital Place, Knoxville, IA 50138. Mitchell Family Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements. For online condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234.

Cheryl Diane Staerk was born on January 24, 1947, in Lakefield, Minnesota, to Darvin William and Julia ‘Margaret’ Schultz. She graduated from Lakefield High School in Lakefield, Minnesota in 1965. She married the love of her life, Reinhard Staerk, in Spirit Lake, Iowa on December 12, 1964. Together they raised their sons, Richard, Eugene and Steven in Windom, Minnesota. She was known as a "hockey mom," hauling her boys and their friends to hockey games. She loved spending time at the lakes swimming and water skiing. She also spent summer nights supporting her husband's sprint car race team. In 1987, Cheryl and Reinhard moved to Marshalltown, Iowa, and purchased an acreage where they raised Arabian horses. She absolutely loved her horses and dogs.

Cheryl worked many years for the telephone company in Minnesota and Iowa, starting out when it was still called Northwestern Bell. She would climb the telephone poles and splice cable and prided herself in doing a "man’s job." She retired in 2009. In her retirement years, she taught swim lessons at the YMCA and stayed active. She considered herself a tomboy and had a zest for life. Cheryl has always been a considering, giving and helping lady and proceeded to do so in death by donating her body for medical science research.

Left to cherish her memory are her three sons, Richard Staerk of Nelson, WI; Eugene (Jennifer) Staerk of North Branch, MN; and Steven (Candi) Staerk of Kellogg, IA; grandchildren Jessie Burley, Natasha Leyk, Miranda Staerk, Brandon Staerk, Derrick Staerk, Ashlee Staerk and Hunter Staerk; two great- grandchildren; and brother Richard ‘Dick’ Schultz of Sioux Falls, SD. She was preceded in death by her husband and parents.