Cheryl Lynn Peterson Rau
June 10, 1944 – December 25, 2025

Cheryl lived her life with creativity and love. She was the first of four children born to Shirley and Allen Peterson in Santa Cruz on June 10, 1944. It was not an easy birth and Papa Allen was participating in D-Day and could not be reached. Cheryl grew up in Los Altos Hills, a “watercolor person” even as a child. After graduating from Cubberly High School in 1962, she attended Foothill Community College, and later Humboldt State University, where she earned her BA in Art in 1974. Cheryl met her future husband Martin Rau in a Ceramics class at HSU in 1969.

Cheryl and Martin soon married and had two children, Coren in 1976 and Carl in 1979. They had purchased a large plot of land in Loleta where they grew Christmas trees, developing Misty Mountain Tree Farm

During this time she took classes at College of the Redwoods in Early Childhood Education, pursuing her credential. One of these classes was taught by Pat McCutcheon. As the academic year progressed, Cheryl and Pat’s friendship grew. In 1984 Pat relocated to the College of the Redwoods Crescent City campus for the next year, and Cheryl came to visit for a weekend. That was the beginning of a relationship that was to last forty years.

In 1985 Cheryl ended her marriage with Martin and moved with Coren and Carl to join Pat and her son Josh in Crescent City. Over the next six years, the five of them built a life together. Cheryl pursued her secondary teaching credential at HSU, earning it in 1988. Unfortunately, she was not able to secure a teaching position in Crescent City because of her relationship with Pat. However, they made lasting friends in the Del Norte community.

A faculty position opened up for Pat on the Eureka campus in 1990, and the whole family was excited to return to Humboldt County. Pat and Cheryl bought a home in Sunnybrae and soon joined the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. In 1992 the Rev. John Cooper married them on the front lawn of their home with friends and family celebrating.

In 2008, the first day same sex weddings were legal, Cheryl and Pat were married at the Eureka Courthouse, followed by a celebration with friends and family at the Fellowship.

She was an avid gardener and gifted artist. After all three children were grown, the couple had the garage converted to an art studio for Cheryl. Later, on the large front lawn, she would create soccer goal posts from her easel for growing grandson Dylan.

Cheryl taught for thirteen years at the College of the Redwoods Child Development Center, teaching young children of CR students, and serving as interim Director.

And through it all, she was painting! She was a gifted watercolorist, creating large and medium-sized paintings as well as one of-a-kind cards. She painted scarlet poppies in her garden, pink flamingos at Sequoia Zoo, and captured countless landscape scenes across Humboldt County and beyond. Cheryl was an active member of the Humboldt County art community, participating in several Humboldt County Open Studios, many shows at the Redwood Art Association, and numerous other community events and venues. In 2022 Cheryl was selected to participate in the 15th annual Ingrid Nickelson Trust Women’s Juried Exhibition at the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka. The Exhibition was juried by painter Joan Gold, who selected Cheryl’s painting Garden Explosion for an Ingrid Nicholson Trust Award.

Cheryl is survived by her devoted wife of forty years, Pat McCutcheon, her sons Josh Kieselhorst, Coren Rau and Carl Rau, grandson Dylan Kieselhorst, brothers Jon and Robert Peterson, and sister Cyndie Peterson Paul, as well as numerous extended family in the San Francisco Bay Area. She will be sorely missed by many more.

A memorial followed by a potluck will be held at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 24 Fellowship Way off Jacoby Creek Road in Bayside, on Sunday, January 18, 2026, 3 p.m. A selection of her paintings will be on display there. In honor of Cheryl’s colorful life, “Cheryl Chic” In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Cheryl’s name to Companion Animal Foundation in Eureka, or to the Fellowship in Bayside.

###

The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Cheryl Rau’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.