Cindy Cherry: Don Cherry's Daughter, Her Death and Her Legacy

Who was Cindy Cherry?

Cynthia Margaret Cherry, known throughout her life as Cindy, was born in 1957. She was the first child of Don Cherry and his wife Rosemarie, arriving during the years when Don was bouncing around the minor leagues with no guarantee of a paycheque past the next season. Her brother Tim came a few years later. The family moved from town to town, and Cindy grew up in a life defined by the hockey calendar rather than a fixed address.

She was never in front of a camera. She did not work in broadcasting, did not give interviews, and kept a deliberately quiet life even as her father became one of the most recognisable people in Canada. What she did do was more consequential. She donated a kidney to her brother Tim, an act that Don has spoken about with obvious pride. She founded Don Cherry's Pet Rescue Foundation, a Canadian charity that supports animal rescue organizations. And she wrote a book about growing up as Don Cherry's daughter, which the family published after her death.

She died unexpectedly on July 15, 2024, at 67. Her death was confirmed by her family and reported across Canadian media. Don and Tim both issued statements. The funeral was private.

Her death on July 15, 2024

Cindy Cherry died unexpectedly on July 15, 2024. She was 67. The family has not disclosed a cause of death. Her father Don Cherry and her brother Tim confirmed the loss in statements to the press, and the news was carried by CBC, the Toronto Sun and other Canadian outlets within days.

Don Cherry had spoken in interviews before her death about the closeness of the family and about Cindy's role in it. After her death, the family announced that a book she had been working on about her father would be published. The book was released posthumously in 2025 and is the closest thing to a first-hand account of what it was like growing up in the Cherry household.

Her death came less than two years before her father turned 92 and during the period when the family was also managing his own health and the ongoing public fallout with Ron MacLean. It reshaped the family's public story. Any page that still describes Cindy Cherry as alive and simply "private" is out of date.

The timeline

• 1957Born to Don Cherry and Rosemarie Cherry, during Don's minor league playing days.
• 1957 to 1973Family moves town to town as Don plays about 16 seasons in the minor leagues.
• 1960sHer brother Tim Cherry is born.
• 1974Don becomes head coach of the Boston Bruins. The family settles in Boston.
• 1980Don joins Hockey Night in Canada. The family settles in Ontario.
• June 1, 1997Her mother Rosemarie dies of liver cancer.
• 1999Her father marries Luba Cherry, who becomes Cindy's stepmother.
• 2014Founds Don Cherry's Pet Rescue Foundation.
• July 15, 2024Cindy dies unexpectedly at 67.
• 2025Her book about her father is published posthumously.

The kidney she gave her brother

One of the most significant things about Cindy Cherry is also one of the quietest. She donated a kidney to her brother Tim. The transplant was successful, and Don Cherry has spoken about it publicly more than once as an example of what kind of person his daughter was.

The donation is not a small detail. It is the act that most people who knew the family point to when they talk about Cindy. Her brother Tim has continued to work in broadcasting and podcasting. The kidney she gave him is a large part of the reason he was able to keep doing that work through the years when the family faced other pressures.

Don Cherry's Pet Rescue Foundation

Cindy Cherry founded Don Cherry's Pet Rescue Foundation in 2014. The charity supports animal rescue organizations across Canada, funding veterinary care, shelter operations and adoption programs. It is a registered Canadian charity and remains active.

The foundation reflects a side of the Cherry family that rarely gets covered. Don Cherry's public persona is loud, opinionated and relentlessly focused on hockey. His daughter's public work was quiet, focused on animals, and built to run without her name on the front page. That contrast is part of what made her distinctive within the family.

The book she left behind

Cindy Cherry spent part of her later years working on a book about her father. After her death in July 2024, the family decided to publish it. The book came out in 2025 and is the closest thing to a first-hand account of the Cherry household from a family member other than Don himself.

It is not a tell-all. It is a daughter's account of what her father was actually like away from the cameras. Reviews have noted that it is warmer and more nuanced than anything written about Don Cherry by outsiders. It is also the last thing Cindy Cherry wrote in her own voice, and the family has treated it as part of her legacy.

The Cherry family

Cindy was the older of two children. Her brother Tim is the family member fans hear from most, since he produced Rock'em Sock'em Hockey and co-hosted The Grapevine podcast with their father until it ended in June 2025. Their mother Rosemarie died in 1997. Their stepmother Luba Cherry married Don in 1999.

The Ontario connection

The Cherry family is tied to Ontario. Kingston is where Don was born in 1934 and where he and his brother Dick grew up playing hockey. Mississauga is where Don and Luba have lived for decades. Milton, just west of Mississauga, is home to the children's hospice associated with Rosemarie Cherry's memory.

Cindy lived in the Greater Toronto Area for much of her adult life. She stayed close to her family throughout. The donation of her kidney to Tim and her decision to spend her later years writing about her father both reflect a person who chose proximity over distance, family over fame.

In other people's words

• She gave Tim a kidney. She gave the family its memory. She never asked for anything back.

  The Cherry Family Desk, October 2026

• Don Cherry is a very generous man. He gave his kidney to his son.

  Widely reported family account of the kidney donation, sometimes misattributed in the press

• Her book about her father was the last thing she wrote in her own voice.

  The Cherry Family Desk, October 2026

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