Cheryl was born in Melrose Park and raised in Naperville, Illinois.
Her family owned and operated an Italian restaurant during her childhood. “Gennaro’s” was located in Little Italy in downtown Chicago and served exclusively homemade Italian food. As a child, she worked in the restaurant assisting the servers. Cheryl tells stories of sneaking to the back of the kitchen to eat the cannoli filling. Some of her fondest memories involve her strict Italian grandmother asking her what she wanted to eat at the end of the work day, making whatever Cheryl requested, then watching over her to make sure she ate everything on her plate with one hand on her waist and the other shaking a wooden spoon.
After high school graduation, Cheryl’s father, who was the Vice President of FTD Software Development who wrote all of the code for the company, helped her to begin her career with FTD as a customer service representative. She quickly advanced to Assistant Supervisor of Member Services. Assisting the member florists with their computer hardware, Cheryl traveled throughout the United States in her position.
While on a business trip in Decatur, Illinois for the FTD Midwest Trade Show, she contracted an illness. Cheryl found herself in the Emergency Room of St. Mary’s Hospital for treatment, where she met her now-husband of 34 years, Dr. Doug Kabbes. Several days later when she failed to appear for her follow-up appointment, a hospital representative attempted to reach her by telephone but instead reached her mother. Cheryl’s mother, a Registered Nurse, insisted on speaking with the treating physician rather than any other hospital representative, and her request was granted. One thing led to another, and many months later, Cheryl and Doug were married.
The Kabbes family make their home on Lake Sara. They have three children, all of whom graduated from St. Anthony schools: Courtney is a practicing attorney at Taft, Stettinius, and Hollister, LLP in Chicago, Connor is an optometrist with Weber Optiks in Effingham, and Christa is mental health therapist with Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis.
Cheryl joined Orr Law in 2019 at office receptionist. While she remains in that position, she is also the real estate paralegal for K. Rick Keller. Cheryl is employed full time, yet takes off Thursdays to spend the day with her grandson, Benjamin, who is the son of Connor and Sophie Hoffman Kabbes.
