Cheryl Elaine Hebert-Payne (Swihart), 80, of Littleton, passed away on November 22, 2024. Cheryl was surrounded by family and friends throughout her last days. Cheryl was a beautiful and generous soul who brightened the life of everyone she met during her long life.

Cheryl was born on June 12, 1944 to Ernest and Ida Swihart (Kinney) in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Segundo High School, graduating in 1962.

She married Michael Dennis Hollingsworth in 1968. Cheryl and Michael had two children: Heidi Lynn, and Jeffrey Michael while they resided in El Segundo, California.

Cheryl moved with her family to Boring, Oregon in 1974 to pursue a hippie artist life on a 5- acre plot in the beautiful Oregon countryside. There she and Michael and the kids raised goats, chickens, a pig named “Pork Chop”, a steer named “George”, and two horses. Her family remembers spending happy afternoons picking blackberries, digging terra cotta clay with her and helping out in the pottery studio. Cheryl developed her skills as a potter, creating a style that would be imitated but never duplicated.

In 1979 the family moved to Colorado, where Cheryl lived until her passing.  It was in Colorado where Cheryl truly found herself as an artist, starting a pottery business that became quite successful, all the while raising her children through high school and beyond.

Al Payne, a former classmate of Cheryl’s at El Segundo High School, came back into Cheryl’s life in 1996 and they were married on January 25th, 1997. Cheryl and Al remained faithful companions for nearly 30 years. The made their home in Littleton, Colorado and there shared many laughs with family and friends both new and old.

Cheryl greatly enjoyed traveling with and spending time with her family. One of her favorite destinations was Salida, Colorado. She also loved her garden, and grew many beautiful things. Cheryl was a dog lover, keeping one or more dogs as companions for most of her life. She supported efforts to rescue homeless labs.

Her beautiful pottery was her passion and her livelihood, and throughout her life she has brightened the homes of hundreds, maybe thousands, of families who have used and displayed her work. One of Cheryl’s greatest joys was traveling with their trailer to art shows with her companion and husband Al, displaying her amazing work and socializing with the artist community she had become an integral part of. Later in Cheryl’s career, her signature functional pottery designs and glaze style became something that was imitated by many potters. If you walk into a shop in a Colorado ski town today you will see pottery for sale by other potters that were inspired by, or even copies of, Cheryl’s work.

Cheryl was preceded in death by her parents Ernest and Ida, and her brother Ernest Jr..

She is survived by her husband, James Allen “Al” Payne of Littleton, CO., her children Heidi Lynn Shea and her husband Sean of Sheridan, WY. and Jeffrey Michael Hollingsworth and his wife Meg of Littleton, CO., her grandchildren Sophie Hollingsworth and Benjamin Hollingsworth, her niece Gretchen Campbell (Swihart) and her nephew Jason Swihart.

A celebration of Cheryl’s life will be held in Colorado at the Dakota Lodge house in Ken Caryl Valley on January 4th, 2025 from 2-5pm. In lieu of flowers please send donations in Cheryl’s name to the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

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