We just found out about Cheryl’s  passing and send heartfelt condolences to Stanley and the rest of the family.  Cheryl was an intelligent and vibrant woman and we enjoyed getting to know her as a neighbor.  When we asked her to officiate our daughter’s wedding she was delighted and she provided a poignant and humorous speech as they took their vows.  She will be sorely missed.
Beth Ann and Gary Milstein 

May her memory be a blessing to all who knew her.

                                                    Dan Roth

Rick and Susie Taft said it all. As a colleague (she on Domestic Relations Court, me on the General Division) --both appointed by Gov. Celeste--she inspired me, and everyone she met, to do our best. What's crucial is --as a judge, especially--to follow the rule of law even when it hurts. Judge Cheryl Karner lived this principle. I am proud to have known her, and my one regret is that our paths crossed too infrequently.

Sending condolences to Stanley and family. 

Peggy and I  send our deepest condolences to  Stanley, Joe, Jen, Phyllis, Linda, and the entire family. Cheryl and Stanley have been extended members of the Zone and Fisher families for decades. We loved Cheryl for her dedication to public service, brilliance, warmth,  humor, support, and friendship. This is a loss not only for her family and many friends but also for our community. We will miss her very much.

37 years ago i immigrated to Cleveland from Israel. I was about to get married to a local prominent attorney and needed legal advice
 I picked her out of the Yellow Pages because she looked bright and kind in her photo. She was.so nice to me during our meeting, explained everything to me and refused to be paid. Years later I became an attorney, met her in court and reminded her about this office visit and thanked her for her kindness. She was bright, extremely strong and very kind. I am sorry for her passing.

I attended Northwestern University law school with Cheryl where we became friends.  I stayed in contact with her as she worked at the Department of Justice and late became a judge.  She helped me with an antitrust case I had when I was working as an associate with a Chicago law firm.  She was a cheerful, smart, and capable woman.  She died much too young. 

Doug Branson
Sell Chair in Law (Emertus)
University of Pittsburgh

To Cheryl's family:
I am saddened at Cheryl's passing, and my condolences to her family.  Cheryl and I were classmates and 1970 graduates at Northwestern Law School.  She lit up our classes with her joy and vivacious humor.  In October 1971, Cheryl was either working or visiting Washington, D.C. Through a fellow Northwestern Law classmate Larry Hellman, who now lives in Oklahoma City and with whom I was then staying with for a few days as I interviewed for a job in D.C., Cheryl  bought (for $2,000) a blue five-speed overdrive 1970 Fiat 124 Sports Coupe that I bought as my graduation present but was then selling before skipping off to go hitchhiking in Europe for 11 months. With a colorful scarf she was wearing,  she looked so sporty and fashionable with that  Fiat 124 Sports Coupe.  Again, my condolences to her family.  Marty Denis, 9650 N. Keeler, Skokie, Illinois 60076.

Cheryl and Stanley were very close friends of mine and of my husband Rick for about five decades, starting before either of our couples was married. We got together often. Rick has already written his  memorial of her, and many others have shared their admiration of Cheryl the person and Cheryl the judge; I will not repeat those well-deserved accolades. I write instead of what it was to have Cheryl as a close friend.
What stands out to me the most about loving Cheryl as a friend was how very interesting it always was being with her. She had original ideas and perspectives, some of them counter-intuitive, that she shared freely. In the realm of politics she could be fascinating, and in the world of law, she educated as she shared. She laced her commentary with assertion and humor and sometimes vulnerability. She was always thinking and inquiring. Cheryl could range easily from the concrete and personal to the systemic and structural. Her family and close friends were always close to the front of her mind, enabling her to jump from analyses to personal sympathies and back again. She enjoyed trying to understand specific people, their personalities and back stories and the contexts of their lives. And she was fun, so fun. Plus often randomly generous. When we hadn't seen each other for awhile, one or the other of us would be on the phone setting up our next time together.
When Joanie Schiller asked me yesterday how I was feeling about the loss of Cheryl, I told her that even though Cheryl has been “gone” for several years under the cloud and cruelty of dementia, with her death I just had an image of a big piece of fabric (the fabric being other people in my life that I care about) with a big ragged hole cut out of it. Death makes the final statement on a life, and so I have  been acutely feeling its finality for my friend, Cheryl. I will not attempt to mend that fabric. The ragged hole will live on with me, as it should, because losing her is not remediable.

Stanley and family - 
I am so sorry to read about the passing of your beloved wife/mother/grandmother.   Stan was my first boss in 1978 and was a fantastic teacher, influence and guide for me.  I will never forget your ethics, wisdom and kindness Stan.  

I spend summers from June to October in the cleveland area now (winters near Austin Texas).   Would love to visit you Stan when I am back in town.    You can text or call at 713-703-0772 or email at rtstauffer@hotmail.com.   

For now please accept my condolences and warmest wishes during this time of loss.   

Russ Stauffer 

Dear Jennifer, Joey and Stanley and grandchildren ,   On behalf of the Leebow’s ,  my condolences on the loss of Cheryl.  I always enjoyed seeing her and talking to her when she lived next door when I lived on Basswood in Moreland Hills.  She was a wonderful, strong and a fantastic woman.  I am forever fortunate and grateful to have made her acquaintance and I will always remember her as a person who made an impact professionally in the community, a neighbor and a caring person.  I was impressed and loved that I had a neighbor who was a judge and more importantly I believe a present mom and a wife that valued family as a core value.  She was a cool person. May you and the Karner/Friedlander family always have good memories of her and I believe and trust that you will..  I am grateful that G-d united us as neighbors and may Cheryl’s final destination be peaceful, safe and may she be divine assistance to those who she loved in life.  Sincerely, Jonathan Leebow

Little Cheryl and her father, Zalman Karner.

We've missed you, Cheryl.  Memories of our times together on Longboat will remain forever.

Our deepest sympathy and condolences to Stan, Joey, Jennifer, your beautiful grandkids, your sisters and all of your extended family.

I have known Cheryl for several decades in the practice of law with her in the area of family law.  I heard  the comments of those who spoke at the funeral today and I can only agree with them in all respects and add that in many respects they were understated for anyone who knew Cheryl.  My sincerest condolences to Stan, to the entire family and to those who will miss her as a friend of our community.

Dear Karner/Friedlander Family,
How very sorry we were to learn about Cheryl. I was always so proud to know her and share our Youngstown roots. I have fond memories of your family at Temple .She was an All-Star at Rayen and never forgot anyone she knew there. It was always a treat to run into her.
Please know our thoughts and prayers are with you at this very sad and difficult time. We know the last few years have not been easy.
May her memory be a blessing.
Sylvia and Jeff Aarons 

Cheryl was a most special woman who will be missed tremendously!  She was a role model for many of us. My deepest condolences. 

Anita Gray

My deepest condolences to Stanley and Cheryl's family.  She was a remarkable individual and will be remembered fondly by many.

The prime of Ms. Cheryl Karner Friedlander was a happy boisterous prime.  Her laughter at full volume could easily create an echo in a room and in the people in the room.  That was the exuberant Cheryl we knew well with Stanley at her side for a long skein of years during which Advent for Susie and me meant our multicultural party when the two families decorated our Christmas tree at 2989 Washington Boulevard in Cleveland Heights.  Who knows how long the skein lasted? It stretched from the infancy to the adolescence of our children Mandy and Josh and the Friedlander children Jenny and Joey.
 	Thinking of Cheryl’s joie de vivre brings to mind a walk with Bob and Karen Gary and Cheryl (pretty good group to show off to) during which I triggered hilarity by doing a headstand with my head completely underground in a Shaker Lakes gopher hole.  Sometimes show-offs break their neck, but not that time.  
	Cheryl once invited us to a grand soirée at her house where the guests gathered for dinner around a table with all the leaves in place to eat our super-fancy dinner of long-bone veal chops.  The long bones strutted like drum majors out of the meat.  Alongside the long-bone chops, Cheryl liked a long list of life’s finer things – lovely homes, colorful art, winter time in Florida with long morning walks, good books, her family and vigorous conversation with her friends, friends, friends.  
	Goodbye, Cheryl.  You were a grand companion. 


 Karen and I  knew Cheryl from the time we were all at CWRU together. She went on to be an important figure in the Cleveland and Ohio legal community as a domestic relations  judge.  She was rarely if ever opposed. She was named by Governor Gilligan  as  the first women to serve as the  State's  Chief of Consumer Affairs . That  year the Nation Enquirer named Cheryl and Princess Anne as women of the year.  She was a force among the Ohio judges and was even considered for an opening on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. She had hanging in her office pictures of children from around the world as a reminder how fortunate we are to live in America. She was compassionate, funny and an excellent legal mind and I was fortunate to have her as a friend  for most of my adult life. 

As I experience feelings of loss and sadness I am drawn to memories of our lives with Cheryl and Stanley that span 50 plus years. I choose to revel in those years when we, a small group that sometimes morphed to include several of you, had the hubris and short sightedness to think that we were invulnerable, would never grow old and were always right. What a group we were! We engaged in shenanigans that will remain untold. Bob, who claims that Cheryl was one of the most astute political minds he knew, daily walked over to our neighbor where together they unpacked world and local governance.  We got angry with each other over trivial incidents and always made amends. We shared the joys and concerns about our children. And, most importantly, we laughed with and at each other. And, Cheryl, surprisingly, was a very good sport when we teased her and a very easy target. I will miss who we were and I will treasure the memories we created as we grew up together.  

OBITUARY

Cheryl Karner

August 19, 1945 – January 13, 2023

Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Past Services

Funeral Services

Interment

Shiva Sunday from 5-7 p.m. and Monday 2-6 p.m.