Cherilyn R. “Cher” Hersrud was born in Miles City, Montana on October 5, 1949, to Harold and Margaret (Stoen) Emme. She was raised in Bowman, ND and attended school. In high school, her family relocated to Moorhead, MN where she graduated from high school in 1968. During her high school years, she met Doug Hersrud, and they were married while he was in the service on September 17th, 1971. They made their home in Moorhead, MN, where they raised their children, Travis and Anna.

Cher worked with many different organizations in the area, finding her true passion in grant writing and nonprofit organizations. Proud to be a small-town girl, Cher devoted her career to helping rural communities access the resources they needed to grow and thrive. Through her work as a grant writer, she helped secure millions of dollars for rural communities across North Dakota, supporting projects and opportunities that may not have been possible without her knowledge, persistence, and belief in the people leading them. Cher gave so much of herself to the people and communities around her. Strengthen ND and rural North Dakota are better because of her. She was a mentor to many in her field and was even invited to a dinner at the White House with Bill and Hillary Clinton to recognize her great work.

Her passions in life were her “goddess trips”, trips with Doug and her kids, lake time with family and all of her “Gramma adventures” with the loves of her life, THE FABULOUS FOUR, Lucas, Gracie, Addie and Ian. These four were the light of her life and she was known as the cookie gramma for countless baseball, soccer, bowling and volleyball games. These kids are so lucky to have such great memories of all the gramma sleepovers and adventures.

Cher will be deeply missed by all of those who knew and loved her. She survived by her husband, Doug of Moorhead, children Travis (Nikki) Hersrud and Anna (Mark) Halvorson of Glyndon, her fabulous grandchildren, Lucas and Gracie Hersrud and Addie and Ian Halvorson, her brother, Dave (Patty) Emme of Reno, NV, sisters Annette (John) Shotwell of Detroit Lakes, MN and Diane (Tom) Johnson of Fargo, ND, many beloved nieces and nephews and family.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Harold and Margaret Emme, sister, Jan Schwindt and in-laws Don and Othelia Hersrud.

A Rock and Roll funeral will be held at Wright Funeral Home in Moorhead, MN on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, with a visitation at 1:00 pm, service at 2:00 pm. Please come casually, wearing your best rock and roll concert shirts or Rolling Stones red.

**And we all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun**

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her name to Essentia Health Cancer Center in Fargo or any nonprofit organization of your choosing.