A `PEOPLE' PERSON CHERYL STREETER SERVES UP EFFICIENCY, CARING AND LOVE.Byline: BETTIE RENCORET Senior columnist LANCASTER - A 3-year-old boy with his hands on his hips stood in the aisle between two rows of Denny's Restaurant booths and shouted ``Grandma!'' Cheryl Streeter, waiting on customers at the far end of the aisle, turned her head and grinned, calling back: ``I'll be there in a minute, Zane.'' The boy waited while she finished with her customers, then she moved toward him and scooped him up in a hug. ``Grandma was pretty busy right then but she'd never forget to give you your hug,'' she said. Streeter listened attentively as the boy chattered to her, then put him down. ``Grandma has to get back to work now, so you run back to Mommy and I'll see you next time, OK?'' The boy waved and ran back to his smiling mother, who also waved. Was this one of Streeter's own grandchildren GRANDCHILDREN, domestic relations. The children of one's children. Sometimes these may claim bequests given in a will to children, though in general they can make no such claim. 6 Co. 16. ? Not at all. Just one of the children who come to Denny's with their parents. ``When they need a grandma hug, they need a grandma hug,'' said Streeter, a grandmother of 21 who has been waitressing for 47 years, ``and they're all so precious I'm glad I'm there to give it to them.'' Not many people who are served by Streeter realize what a remarkable person she is. A widow who lives in Rosamond, Streeter raised 10 children of her own plus what she calls her ``15 in-and-out extras'' with her late husband, Ramon, a chef. They took in foster children, legally adopted one, and loved every one of those who came and went. ``We had one of those 'his, mine and ours' kind of families,'' she said. ``I had children from my first marriage and Ray adopted them. He had some of his that are just as much mine as the others, and then we had some together.'' Streeter was born Cheryl O'Neill in Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb just west of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago (the Chicago Loop) thanks to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L', CTA buses, and Metra commuter rail. . She came to California with her family in 1955, settling in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. . She attended Santa Monica High School Wikipedia is not the place for advertisement or self-advertising. Santa Monica High School (SMHS), informally known as Samohi or just Samo, is a public school located in Santa Monica, California which was founded in 1884 . , then Santa Monica City College and continued at Ameritat College. She and Ramon were married in 1969 in Las Vegas Las Vegas (läs vā`gəs), city (1990 pop. 258,295), seat of Clark co., S Nev.; inc. 1911. It is the largest city in Nevada and the center of one of the fastest-growing urban areas in the United States. . Ramon was a chef for 30 years. When his health started to go, the couple closed their cafe and he took a medical retirement. They moved to the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley in 1971. Ramon died in 1994 at the age of 64, five months before their 25th anniversary. He had no insurance so the bills were monumental. She began working two full time jobs after his death. She had started waitressing when she was 13. ``I've never been one to flit from one job to another. I held that first job for nine years,'' she said. ``I was at the Antelope Valley Inn for seven years and before that, I worked at the old Thrifty Coffee Shop. I'm a people person and I like what I do.'' ``We like what she does, too,'' said Ali Bassiri, franchise operator of Denny's on West Avenue K. ``Cheryl's a valuable business asset and we want her to stay around a long time.'' For more than two years she has worked a regular day shift at Denny's, then donned a different uniform for her night job. She's been the executive housekeeper at Holiday Inn Express in Lancaster for more than four years. At the hotel she's in charge of seven other housekeeping personnel plus the maintenance crew. ``I love her to pieces,'' said Helen Sarver, the Inn's general manager. ``She's the best. I wouldn't want to do without her.'' What little rest she gets is between midnight and 5 a.m. she said. ``When I get home I have just three choices,'' she laughed. ``I can read a good book, take a bubble bath or get some sleep. I sometimes choose sleep.'' On Mondays, she works in Rosamond as secretary/treasurer for a water district. ''I just operate from day to day,'' said Streeter. ``I'm sure I'll be working for the next thousand years but I'm grateful I can. My only regret is I don't get enough time to spend with my kids and grandkids.'' She said if she had her way, she'd have them housed in a compound all around her, like the Kennedys in Hyannisport, Mass. ``That would make my life complete,'' she said. The week's menus have been announced for senior life nutrition sites in Lancaster and Palmdale. All meals include bread, margarine and coffee, tea or milk, for a suggested donation of $2. Monday: Beef Stroganoff beef stro·ga·noff n. Thinly sliced beef fillet sautéed and mixed with onions, mushrooms, sour cream, and herbs, often served on a bed of noodles or rice. with noodles noo·dle 1 n. A narrow, ribbonlike strip of dried dough, usually made of flour, eggs, and water. [German Nudel. , broccoli, lettuce and tomato salad, cheesecake. Tuesday: Pinto beans with ham, parsleyed carrots, marinated salad, grape juice, peaches. Wednesday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes n. pl. 1. Potatoes which have been boiled and mashed to a pulpy consistency, usu. with sparing addition of milk, salt, butter, or other flavoring. It is a popular accompaniment to a meat course [U.S., 1900's], providing bulk and calories to a meal. , Normandy vegetables, creamy coleslaw cole·slaw also cole slaw n. A salad of finely shredded raw cabbage and sometimes shredded carrots, dressed with mayonnaise or a vinaigrette. , Jell-O with pears. Thursday: Lasagna, green beans green beans Noun, pl long narrow green beans that are cooked and eaten as a vegetable , garden salad A garden salad is a salad consisting of lettuce and simple vegetables found in a small vegetable garden such as tomatoes, carrots, onions, and dressing. , pineapple juice, lemon pudding. Friday: Creole chicken or fish fillet fillet /fil·let/ (fil´et) 1. a loop, as of cord or tape, for making traction on the fetus. 2. in the nervous system, a long band of nerve fibers. fil·let n. 1. , rice pilaf, spinach, tossed salad, citrus cup. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Rosamond widow Cheryl Streeter and her late husband raised a large family. She now holds down three jobs. Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News |
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