Cheryl Hoople Obituary

Cheryl Gay (Hentsch) Hoople passed away peacefully on the afternoon of August 9, 2022, at the age of 77, after a short and sudden battle of Lewy body dementia and Corticobasal degeneration. She was born on February 16, 1945, in Lawrence, Kansas to Frank and Winifred Hentsch, and graduated from Lawrence High School.

During her teenage years she enjoyed horseback riding with her sister Lanna, camping and canoeing with Senior Girl scout Mariner Ship 660, and going on canoe trips with the Ozark Waterways Canoe Club. She attended the University of Kansas where she was a member of Chi Omega sorority and graduated (Phi Beta Kappa) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in 1968. She met her husband Douglas D. Hoople while attending university.

For the next several years she followed her husband's Navy career as they moved to Florida, Texas, California, Hawaii, and Washington state. While in those locations, she continued her career in journalism by writing feature articles for the local newspapers. In Hawaii, she earned a master's degree in American Studies (Urban Design) from the University of Hawaii. She also led Senior Girl Scout groups on scouting Wider Opportunities to Venezuela and Japan.

She is the author of two award winning books: A Heritage Sampler – A Book of Colonial Arts and Crafts and As I Saw It – Women Who Lived the American Adventure. These books received the American Library Association Notable Book Award and Child Study Association's Children's Book-of-the-Year Award.

When her husband retired from the Navy, they moved to Bellevue, WA where she worked as a technical writer, editor, and in production management of planning, training, marketing, and technical documentation for CH2M Hill and as a content development manager for Microsoft.

She was a long-time volunteer with the Bellevue School District's Volunteer in Bellevue's Education System (VIBES) as a classroom helper. She also enjoyed volunteering with the Bellevue Botanical Gardens leading educational tours for school groups.

An avid watercolor painter, she was a member of the Eastside Association of Fine Arts (EAFA) and served on their board. She also developed and taught many watercolor classes for Daniel Smith Fine Arts Corporation in Bellevue and Seattle.

Cheryl is survived by her husband of 54 years, Douglas; sister and brother-in-law, Lanna and Robert Combs of Overbrook, Kansas; daughters Carrie Hipsher and Joey Hoople; and son-in-law, John, and grandsons, Dominic, and John Hipsher.

A celebration of life is planned for October 22, 2022, in Lawrence, Kansas at 2:00 pm at the Lawrence Hidden Valley Camp. In lieu of flowers, the Hoople family request that donations be made to Swedish/Providence Hospice (at swedishfoundation.org) whose thoughtful care gave Cheryl comfort during her final months.

Cheryl was an independent free spirit who loved the outdoors and canoeing, as a mother she was devoted to nurturing and supporting her daughters.

She will be buried at Tahoma National Cemetery.