Born Cheryl Ann Parsons in Lawrence, Kansas, to William and Barbara Parsons, her family moved to the SF Bay Area when Cheryl was a young girl, eventually settling in Half Moon Bay. She received her B.A. in music from Notre Dame De Namur University in Belmont, Calif. A gentle, loving woman, her first marriage blessed her with two children, Gregory Andersen and Kevin Andersen. An exceptional baker, she won a blue ribbon at the San Mateo County Fair for her incredible apple pie. They moved to Santa Cruz, where Cheryl divorced and then remarried in 1985 to the love of her life, Kevin Cutler. Cheryl and Kevin honeymooned in Yosemite and would later hike in almost all of the western National Parks.