Cheryl Berberet

Cheryl K. Berberet of San Diego, Calif., died peacefully after a long illness on Feb. 3, 2012.

Born Cheryl Kathleen Navin in Akron, Ohio on May 27, 1944, she lived in several cities as a child, perhaps inspiring a lifelong love of travel. Her family settled in Lincoln, Nebraska, when Cheryl was nine, where her father P.X. Navin was manager of the local Goodyear Tire and Rubber plant and her mother Helen was a nurse.

She attended St. Theresa elementary school, Pius X High School, and the University of Nebraska where she was a member of Delta Gamma Sorority and majored in history and English. Following graduation she married William G. “Jerry” Berberet of Toston, Montana, in August 1966.

Cheryl and Jerry were married 45 years and have two daughters, Heather M. (Delores) of San Diego and Meghan E. (Ron) of Novato, Calif., born in Plattsburgh, NY. Jerry and Cheryl lived in diverse regions of the country before settling in San Diego in 2007.

In addition to her immediate family, Cheryl is survived by two brothers, John F. (Sharon) of Stillwater, Minn., and Philip X. (Debie) of Atlanta, Ga.; granddaughter Ryan McKenzie Berberet; and numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws.

Cheryl Berberet’s last rites will be held at a funeral Mass at Saint Joseph Cathedral, San Diego at 3:30 pm on Friday, Feb. 24. A pictorial gallery of her life can be accessed at the Merkley-Mitchell Mortuary website (www.merkleymitchell.com).

In lieu of flowers, donations might be made to the National Dysautonomia Research Foundation, PO Box 301, Red Wing, MN 55066 (www.ndrf.org); the Pius X Foundation, 6000 A St., Lincoln, NE 68510 (www.foundation.piusx.net); or the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals www.aspca.org/donate)