Cheryl Anne Malmberg, aged 79, “went to visit the angels” as she would love to say on July 29, 2024, peacefully in her sleep. She was born on December 3,1944, to Frances and Bill Lawson. During her junior year of high school, she met Lawrence “Swede” Malmberg. It was in her words “most definitely, love at first sight.”
She graduated from Great Falls High School in 1963. They married on August 1,1964. Cheryl started working for an optometrist in Great Falls while Swede started his sales career and they welcomed a son, Eric, in 1967. They moved to Nebraska for Swede’s job and Wendi was born in 1969. Moving again, they bought a ranch outside of Elizabeth, CO living there several years before deciding to move back to Montana to be closer to family. In 1976, they bought land outside of Raynesford and the Owe Five Ranch became their home.
She loved working at the family business, Malmberg’s Travel Agency in Great Falls but the 84-mile commute plus ranch and mom responsibilities were a bit much, so she left the agency to focus more on things closer to home. She loved learning and was a self-taught bookkeeper for the ranch, learned to play the guitar, paint, and do calligraphy all from books she would get from the library.
Cheryl loved to garden. Growing up, her garden was the size of a football field or at least that is what it felt like when the kids were told to go out and weed. Thankfully, over the years it seemed to get smaller and smaller… maybe it was her not wanting to feed so many deer!
One of her love languages was cooking. Those harvest dinners and church potlucks were her time to shine. Her Italian heritage really shone through as she would fill that yellow giant Tupperware bowl with something magical. She took great delight in making sure her four grandchildren, Skye, Sierra, Ava, and Danny knew her famous spaghetti sauce recipe.
Cheryl was a master event organizer, Twin Town baseball scorekeeper, 4-H leader, founding member of Operation Santa, a Board Member of YWCA, 30-year commissioner of the family football pool were just a few of the things she loved to do.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, click here to visit the Schnider Funeral Home website.
