Cheryl Lynn Hanson Browning, 62, of Lake Crystal, Minnesota passed away on January 4, 2026, at the Lakeshore Rehabilitation Center in Waseca, following an extended battle with brain cancer.

After surviving breast cancer in the late 2000’s, her second fight began the fall of 2024 when she began to have health changes, and was later diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in December 2024. Cheryl wasn’t expected to survive after a single radiation treatment put her into a two-week coma in March. She fought against all odds and was discharged from hospice in April of 2025. After intense rehabilitation services at Mala Strana, New Prague, Cheryl was able to return home in early August. She lived independently for almost four months before the cancer started to grow again, and she entered the Lakeshore Rehabilitation Center the end of 2025.

Cheryl was born on August 9, 1963, in Minneapolis to James and Vivian (Ellefson) Hanson, but grew up in Princeton. Cheryl graduated from Princeton High School in 1981, then began her undergraduate studies at St. Cloud State University. She took a brief break from school to work in San Diego as a nanny, then returned to St. Cloud to complete her degree in Business Administration in 1988. Cheryl’s college studies took her on numerous excursions, including two trips to Spain and a snorkeling course in the Florida Keys.

In 1988, Cheryl began working for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as a bank examiner in the Minneapolis FDIC Field Office, which eventually took her to West Virginia and Michigan. She married Chris Browning on July 25, 1997, in Winfield, West Virginia, and they returned to Minnesota in 2003, and settled in Lake Crystal. Cheryl served as the FDIC Supervisory Examiner of the Mankato Field Office from 2003 until her retirement in 2019.

In her free time, Cheryl enjoyed traveling, camping, live music, gardening, dining out with friends, and tending to her pets, including rabbits and her beloved cat, Monty.

Cheryl was preceded in death by her husband Christopher (2021), her parents James (2022) and Vivian (2020) Hanson, and brother Charles (2004). She is survived by her brothers Greg and Steve (Michelle), stepdaughters Rea, Elisabeth (Nick), and Katherine (Russ), several nieces and nephews, and many cousins.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.