Cheryl Bredeson

Cheryl Ann Fritze Bredeson, 71, passed away on Feb. 27, 2017, at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, surrounded by her loving family. She will be remembered always as a devoted mother, wife, and daughter, a dedicated teacher with limitless heart; and a faithful Christian who believed in witness through compassion for others. Cheryl was born on Aug. 18, 1945, in Albuquerque, NM, the daughter of Herbert Fritze and Valiera Heim Fritze. She graduated from Putnam City High School in Oklahoma City in 1963 and attended both Concordia University in Seward, NE, and Central State University in Edmond, where she received a bachelor's in elementary education in 1967. She earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling at the University of Oklahoma. In 1971 she married Gerald Lawson. Cheryl was passionate about teaching elementary students, particularly those who are low-income and disadvantaged. She taught at Apollo and Coronado elementary schools in the Putnam City district, then at Pioneer Elementary in Noble. In 1987, she married Jon Bredeson, and they were together until her passing. In 1988, Cheryl and Jon moved to Northport, Alabama, where she taught at Mathews Elementary in the Tuscaloosa County School System. In the late 1990s, they moved to Lubbock, where she taught at three elementary schools in the Lubbock Independent School District - Posey, Parkway and Stewart. In school year 2003-2004, she was named Lubbock Elementary Teacher of the Year, the Region 17 Elementary Teacher of the Year, and was a finalist for Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year. She and Jon retired in 2007 to Norman to be closer to family. Cheryl loved sports, choral singing, piano, her pets, beautiful flowers, feeding birds, the Lutheran faith, helping and advocating for others, and, most of all, her family. She was a docent at OU's Fred Jones Art Museum and Sunday School Superintendent and Outreach Chair at University Lutheran Church in Norman. Cheryl was preceded in death by her father, Herbert Fritze. She is survived by her husband Jon Bredeson; mother Val Fritze Reed; her son Jon Lawson and his wife Laura; her daughter Julie Hopper and husband Robert Hopper; stepchildren Loren Bredeson and Liesl Smith and her husband Kevin Smith; brothers Skip Fritze and wife Pat, David Fritze and wife Debra, and Mark Fritze and wife Melinda; grandchildren Ryan Lawson, Tyler Lawson, Lillybeth Lawson and Emery Hopper; and step-grandchildren Madeline Smith, Jacob Smith and Molly Smith; and 10 nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be at University Lutheran in Norman at 10 AM Saturday March 4, with interment at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery. Arrangements are made by Wilson-Little Funeral Home, Purcell, OK. You may send online condolences to the family @wilsonlittle.com.

Cheryl Bredeson

August 18, 1945 - February 27, 2017