

She was born Nov. 8, 1955 to Elden and Elaine Hawkinson of West Hills, California. A graduate of California State University, Northridge, she earned her Bachelors of Arts in English. Cheryl pursued her education further on the east coast, receiving her Masters degree in 1983 from University of Maryland, College Park in English.
Moving to Fredericksburg, she became an influential professor and mentor at the University of Mary Washington.
A lifelong academic, she returned to the University of Maryland over twenty years later. Her family watched as she worked diligently on her doctorate entitled Meeting the Needs of the Nontraditional Student: A Study of the Effectiveness of Synchronous Online Writing Center Tutorials and earned her PhD in 2010.
She is survived by her family: Keith, Charlotte, Jared, and Hannah Melkun, as well as her parents, Elden and Elaine, and brother Kent.
Cheryl will be remembered most by her supportiveness, intelligence, love for the sport of swimming, and true desire to make a difference in her family and students’ lives.
A service will be held at the Fredericksburg United Methodist Church at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 23. The family will also receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 22 at the Mullins and Thompson Funeral Service, Fredericksburg Chapel 1621 Jefferson Davis Hwy.
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