Cheryl Renee Miner

Cheryl passed away on October 10, 2025, after a two-week hospital stay and a week in hospice care. She was 67 yrs old, born in Bellingham on May 17, 1958, and raised in Lynden with her 8 siblings, graduating from Lynden High in 1976. Cheryl was bold and adventurous for her entire life and deeply loved her family and her friends. She could convince many of them to join her in spontaneous escapades, often going somewhere or doing something they might otherwise never have done. Sometimes this was problematic, but it was always memorable. If you knew Cheryl, you surely understand. Her family recognized that she had always "marched to her own drum", but it was in her 40s, after years of struggles, when she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This answered many questions that her family had had for the entirety of her life thus far. She was not unlike many with this diagnosis in that she was unable to remain in treatment or stay on her medication for very long, before the mania took her back into a life of self-destructive behavior, poor choices, fractured relationships and an episode of homelessness on the streets of Bellingham. After years of psychotic breaks with reality, fraught with delusions and fear, and the resulting hospitalizations, she finally agreed in Dec 2022 to live in a managed care environment, an Adult Family Home in Everett, where she finally found peace and safety and was lovingly cared for until her death. Cheryl is survived by her children, daughter Brittany (Seaton) Ells, son Anthony Miner, her sisters Linda (Tom) Bishop, Carol Welch (John Stout), Debbie (Todd) Lingbloom, and her brothers Doug (Linda) Bovenkamp and Jeff (Karen) Bovenkamp, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Anthony and Greta, and her brothers Larry (aka Mike), Daryl and Ken. Cheryl's family would like to thank her caregivers at 1st Drive Adult Family Home in Everett, for unwavering patience, love and support of Cheryl, and sharing in her love of God, she loved you as Family; and our thanks to Mike Keife, a close family member of 50yrs, who on a weekly basis in his visits to her, provided Cheryl with many treasured hours of laughter and friendship in the final months, and days, of her life. Cheryl's family knows all too well the plight of the mentally ill, the struggle to love and support them, to keep them safe from themselves, when they can be at their most difficult to love. But they are our parents, our siblings, our children, and we are called to love them. We ask that you please support mental health organizations in your community, and suggest a donation to one of them, or to The Lighthouse Mission in Bellingham, if you're feeling inclined to donate in her memory. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Gillies Funeral Home and Cremation Services. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Cheryl, please visit our floral store.