Cheryl Kolb Roht

Cheryl was born on July 13, 1943, in Ann Arbor, MI., to Col. Roland and Mrs. Emily Kolb. She spent her early years in Green Lake, WI. Because her father was in the military, Cheryl moved many times when she was growing up. Two of her favorite places were Ankara, Turkey and Tokyo, Japan.

She attended St. Mary’s Academy and Ripon College. She was the Administrative Assistant to the Chairman of the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, MD where she met her husband Dr. Lewis H. Roht, a Resident in that Department. After a whirlwind courtship, Cheryl and Lew married in 1972. At the conclusion of Lew’s medical Residency they moved to Houston, TX. While they were there, Cheryl had a successful career as a Real Estate agent. During their marriage, Cheryl and Lew also lived in Kalamazoo, MI, Wilmington, DE and then moved to Leawood, KS where she lived from 1993 to the present.

During her time in the Kansas City area, Cheryl was a docent at the Kansas City Zoo for over 15 years and more than 10 years at The Nelson Atkins Art Museum.

Cheryl loved art and was skilled at drawing. She traveled extensively in Europe with family and friends, and learned about the various artists and artworks she spoke of to school and adult groups during her museum tours.

Cheryl was an excellent cook, and she wrote a cookbook for her daughters in collaboration with her friend. The book was filled with wonderful recipes, as well as photos and hand drawn cartoon figures.

As a youngster she spent 2 years in Japan where she learned to horseback ride. Japan was a special place for her. In fact, her husband Lew had done his military service in Japan with the US Air Force and their mutual love of Japan was one of the first things that they shared. Several years after their marriage the family had the chance to return to Japan where they lived for 2 years in Fukuoka.

Cheryl loved animals and birds. She had several bird feeders set up outside of our kitchen and she enjoyed the daily visits by robins, flickers, woodpeckers, cardinals, finches, chickadees and wrens. And she endured the challenges posed by ravens, crows and squirrels. During her time as a docent at the K.C. Zoo she worked with the Wild Bird Show and during the summer, she and the birdkeeper would fly Shaka, an African Fish Eagle, (originally thought to be a male, but later discovered to be a female) across the lake. She participated in a promotional video for Kansas City that included Shaka flying across the lake and landing in a close-up for the I-Max film.

As a kid living in Green Lake, Cheryl became an avid water skier. She was introduced to golf by her parents. Cheryl loved golf. She and her husband shared many fun rounds of golf at the clubs that they belonged to. She once won a ladies’ event and received an autographed putter signed by Tom Watson. Her particular love was going to the Masters Tournament in Augusta, GA every year. She always bought a pin and wore her Masters hat proudly with all the pins displayed. And of course, she always bought some clothes at the pro shop. For many years she and Lew had 4 tickets and each year, one of our daughters was able to attend the Tournament on a rotating schedule. Cheryl’s grandchildren also got to go to the Tournament. She always rooted for Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, and Arnold Palmer. Cheryl and Lew went to Scotland several times as well as to Ireland. She enjoyed the great old links courses there, as well as the scenery and people that we met. Scotland was a special place for her, second only to Japan.

Cheryl raised 3 incredible daughters: Jeannette, who is a CPA and Chief Finance Officer, with an international shipping company; Chanin, who is a Doctor of Pharmacy and Head of the Pediatric Pharmacy program in the Scott & White Hospital System in Texas; and Nancy who is Health Administrator and Chief Compliance Officer in Regulatory Affairs.

She is also grandmother, (Nana), to 3 grandchildren: Sydney, a Dietician and Aesthetician in Texas; Holly, a college student in Texas, and Joe Lewis, a rising high schooler in Annapolis, MD.

Cheryl and Lew celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last June, with a family trip to Maui, HI, and our last trip together was for Nancy and Frank’s wedding in Arizona, in October, 2022.

Cheryl was a truly amazing person, who made friends easily. She had a great sense of humor and loved the theater and movies. She and Lew regularly attended the Kansas City Symphony, the K.C. Opera, The Harriman Jewell Series and the Performing Arts Program at Johnson County Community College. In particular she loved The New Theater which she and Lew shared with our close friends for more than 20 years.

Cheryl loved dogs. As a kid she had a dog named Django. During her marriage to Lew, she had several wonderful pets. A loveable poodle named Muffin; a mutt named Yankee who loved chasing squirrels but never caught one, and our special dogs, the Shelties: MacDuff, Robbie and Monty. All were given Scottish names because of our love for Scotland and because that breed originated in Scotland. Cheryl trained Robbie and Monty as Therapy and Reading Therapy dogs, and brought them to nursing homes, hospitals and libraries throughout the Kansas City area. She also had a budgie, nicknamed Dirty Bird and a wonderful cockatiel named Spike. The mice, Romeo and Juliet, began as Nancy’s science project. The burgeoning mouse population soon became a family affair, with some head scratching and lots of laughter along the way.

Cheryl loved music, particularly the great swing bands of years ago. She was a groupie for Lew’s Little Big Band and the Kansas City Dixieland Band in which Lew played. Those 2 groups have entertained people all over the K.C. and Johnson County area for the past 17 years. And she rarely missed a performance.

Another great love of Cheryl’s was flowers and gardening. An avid gardener, she spent countless hours making and expanding flowerbeds at our home and improving the landscaping. Having a great view of the outdoors was very important to her. During the time the family lived in Japan she studied flower arranging and learned to prepare many Japanese food dishes and she became quite accomplished in both. She also was an avid nature lover and would wake up early every morning and jog around the lake in a beautiful park that was near our home. Then she would come home and cook us an excellent Japanese breakfast.

And finally, her other passion was reading. She was, perhaps, the best read person that anyone in the family had ever knew. Mysteries, biographies, historical novels, fiction and comedy books were all favorites.

Cheryl was preceded in death by her father, Roland Kolb and mother, Emily Genge Kolb, mother-in-law Claire Roht, and is survived by her husband, Lewis H. Roht, MD; daughters, Jeannette Clark of Houston, TX, Chanin Wright of Salado, TX, Nancy Roht Sheeder of Annapolis, MD and grandchildren Sydney and Holly Wright of Salado, TX and Joseph Lewis Vasto of Annapolis MD, and sons-in-law Jackie Wright of Salado, TX and Frank Sheeder of Annapolis, MD., numerous relatives and friends in Overland Park, Kansas City, New York, Florida, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Arizona, Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and California.

Cheryl would be grateful to anyone who cares to remember her with a gift to the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a future time and place.

Cheryl Jean – a force of nature who is irreplaceable and loved and missed always.