Cheryl Lee (Fiero) Hanson passed away on August 28, 2025, at her La Crosse home, surrounded by her loving family and caregivers.

Cheryl was born August 6, 1948, in Jacksonville, Florida, to Lew and Mabel Fiero. Lew of St. Paul, Minn. and Mabel (Murray) of Augusta, Ga. had both served in WWII and upon leaving active duty lived in several towns in Florida and Minnesota before settling in Red Wing, Minn. Cheryl was the second of three children. She graduated from Red Wing High School in 1966 and attended nearby St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. While in Bangkok, Thailand on a study abroad program in 1968 she met Charles Hanson of La Crosse, sparking a lifelong romance. The couple wed on August 30, 1970, at the United Methodist Church in Red Wing, Minn and remained together for 55 years.

The newlywed couple lived in Madison, Wis. from 1970-73 while Chuck attended law school and Cheryl worked at the [municipal public library]. When they moved to Riverside, California, Cheryl earned her Master’s in curriculum development at UC-Riverside. From 1975-77 they lived in Taipei, Taiwan where she gave birth to her eldest son, Eric. Upon completion of Chuck’s military service obligation, the couple settled in La Crosse in 1977 where she gave birth to Matthew.

Cheryl was devoted to raising her young family – actively participating in kids’ classrooms, PTA, after-school activities, sewing Halloween costumes, and baking custom birthday cakes. She was the planner and organizer of family vacations. She also raised flower and vegetable gardens. She regularly hosted parties and meals at home featuring the elegant and delicious productions that regularly appeared in her kitchen and even won baking and recipe contests now and then.

During her career, Cheryl was a teacher, a La Crosse County Board Supervisor, Development Director for WLSU radio at UW-La Crosse, Western Technical College work-based learning and school-to-work transition coordinator, and program director at CESA 4 in West Salem. In these roles she became well known to many La Crosse area business and civic leaders, bringing stakeholders together while quietly and firmly steering projects to success. Her cherished priorities included funding for local public radio, funding the refuse-burning power plant at French Island in the 1980s, partnering with industry and the school district in the 1990s to build a robust school-to-work program, and in the 2000s directing the well-regarded annual Washburn Academy for area educators.

Cheryl also was active in many local organizations. She poured her seemingly boundless energy into activities and organizations that she felt strengthened bonds of community, both locally and internationally.  She held leadership roles with First Congregational Church, Riverside International Friendship Gardens, the Bethany St. Joseph Corporation Board, the La Crosse YMCA Board, the La Crosse Red Cross branch, and AAUW, among others. She was also active at various times with the League of Women Voters, La Crosse sister city projects, Rotary Club of La Crosse, the Pump House Regional Arts Center, and others. She brought a collaborative approach, highly organized to-do lists, and enviable handwriting to everything she touched.

Cheryl was in turn an artist, green-thumb gardener, supportive sibling, loyal friend, community volunteer, consummate professional, world traveler, devoted spouse, and proud parent and grandparent. Her life touched many overlapping circles of friends, neighbors, colleagues, and collaborators. She always carried with her a sense of style and elegance, warmth and kindness, optimism and positivity – even in the years of her final illness.

She is survived by her husband Chuck of La Crosse, her sons Eric (Rosanna) and Matthew (Brynn), her grandchildren Evan, M, Linnea, and Joshua, and by her siblings Marguerite (Fiero) Rietz of Bellingham, Wash. and Bruce Fiero of Talent, Ore.

A celebration of Cheryl’s life will be at First Congregational Church in La Crosse at 10:30am on Saturday, October 18, 2025.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to consider a donation in Cheryl’s memory to the Hanson Riverside Gardens Fund, care of La Crosse Area Community Foundation (LACF), 601 7th Street North, Suite 203, La Crosse, WI 54601.