Cheryl Ellen Finney, age 70, of Sioux Falls, SD, passed away on Monday, July 20, 2026, at Sanford USD Medical Center Hospital in Sioux Falls.

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She was born in Redfield November 26, 1955, to the Reverend Charles and Darlene (Moir) Finney and, given her dad's profession as a United Methodist minister, lived in many South Dakota towns throughout her childhood.  The family's homes included parsonages in Frankfort, Seneca, Cresbard, Buffalo Gap, Hurley, Britton, Hitchcock and Burke.  She graduated from Burke High School.

Her professional life involved the camera and service departments of Montgomery Wards stores in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Littleton, Colorado, and driver license offices in Colorado and South Dakota.

She studied music at the University of South Dakota and later studied history at Dakota Wesleyan University.  Outside the classroom, she pursued her love of both music and history.  When she was in high school at Burke, the band needed someone to fill in the low bass parts while the tuba players were on the football field, so she put away her regular B-flat clarinet and learned to play the school's huge contrabass clarinet.  Later, after she acquired an assortment of antique and unusual band instruments, she enjoyed arriving at volunteer band concerts and asking the director which of the instruments she should pull out of her trunk for that day's performance.

Her love of history was expressed in many ways.  One was to take over as the official Conference Historian of the Dakotas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, a position previously held by her father until his death in 2017.  As Conference Historian, she also served on the conference Commission on Archives and History.

She was also an expert in her family's history, having traced most of her ancestral branches back into the 1700s or farther.  She loved to travel, and her trips often involved visits to sites of importance in Methodist history, family history, or both.

She is survived by a brother Richard (Joyce) of Morrison, Colorado, a brother James (Chris) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a long list (whom she could readily name) of nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives.  She was preceded in death by her parents, infant siblings Michael and Carol, and thousands of ancestors, cousins and distant relatives whose connection to her family she had carefully studied.

While she was alive, she donated 12 gallons of blood through a 17-year relationship with the Community Blood Bank in Sioux Falls.  After she died, she donated her corneas to help others see, and the rest of her remains to the University of South Dakota medical school.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on July 31, 2026, with a visitation at 10:00 AM, at First United Methodist Church (401 S Spring Ave) in Sioux Falls, SD.  Her cremains will be buried in Mobridge at a later date.