Cheryl L. Dennis

Cheryl Lynn Dennis (born January 5, 1974), a.k.a. Mama, The Mayor, Uncle Cheryl, Aunt Superhero, departed from her many loved ones, friends, and adventures on Earth for her next escapade on June 23, 2026 after a heroic yet exasperating tango with cancer (F—- cancer,  amirite?). She packed a lot into her too-short life. Her most cherished role was mother (Mama) to Spencer, Hanna, and Moody, followed closely by aunt (do not get her started on Josie), sister, daughter, friend and neighbor. A proud graduate of Arcade Comedy Theater’s Stand Up and Improv school, Cheryl also happened to be a licensed clinical social worker, ending her career at Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Manchester K-8. Cheryl lived by James Baldwin’s words, “The children are always ours, every single one of them,” not only in her profession but in her daily life. She could get the shyest kids to hit the dance floor at the Saint Jude Parish Festival or brave the tall slide at the county pools. She taught countless kids to swim, skip rocks, magnet fish, and jump in mud puddles their moms told them not to. She saw the light in and elicited the very best from every child she met and even some of us grown up kids. When she wasn’t momming her own children and many others, Cheryl was a baddie on the pickleball court, a Special Olympics bocce and bowling coach, founder of the Pittsburgh branch of Amazing Kids Bike Camp, mainstay of the Biker Chicks, instructor in the Pennsylvania Motorcycle Safety Camp, and that rarest of beasts, a Gen X TikTok content creator with an actual following. As she did with people, Cheryl had an eye for finding magic in the ordinary, adding transcendence to commonplace objects through her camera lens, or finding the gem in the sea of castoffs at the thrift store.

She is survived (and we do mean survived, because her loss is crushing) by her children, Spencer, Hanna, and Madalyn Dennis; father John Dennis, mother Marjorie Dennis, sister Stephanie Dennis Cooley (Jerry), brother John Dennis, beloved niece Josie, many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, countless friends, devoted dog Macy, and wandering felines Lucifurr and Wrigley.

The most lit celebration of life ever will be held in the near future. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Special Olympics in her honor.