Roberta Susan Cerier, 70, daughter of loving parents Sydney and Helen Rae Cerier, fondly known as Robyn or Robbie to those that knew and loved her, passed away peacefully on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022, surrounded by her family, after an 18-year battle with cancer.
A Kansas City native, Robyn was a graduate of Shawnee Mission East High School (’69) in Prairie Village and attended both Stevens College for Women and the University of Indiana (Bloomington) where she was a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. With her marketing degree, she started her career in the world of retail in Clearwater, Florida, with Neisner's, a regional department store chain. In the early 1970s, Robyn moved back to Kansas City to start a 25-year career with Montgomery Ward. This part of her adventure took her to Denver, Colorado; Baltimore, Maryland; Detroit, Michigan; and finally Chicago, Illinois. The family likes to jest that she was one of the last employees to turn the lights off when the firm closed its doors after their 100-year history. Robyn continued in retail with the T.J. Maxx group as a district store manager and ultimately ended up with Macy’s. Of all of her jobs, this was her favorite. She was the go-to person for just about everyone at her store on Michigan Avenue, albeit without the stress of a title. Simply put, she appreciated her customers, and she loved to solve problems, be they her employer’s or those of her peers. Needless to say, she was adored by all who knew her.
About the same time that she started working for Macy’s, Robyn began a second career in real estate. She loved to help people find the perfect home, even if it was just a one-year rental. Over time, she herself became a landlord along the Lake Shore area of Chicago’s Gold Coast. She was on the board of two high-rise condo buildings where she could utilize her management experience to make things better for the tenants. Even those who worked the desk at her high-rise Chicago home on North Dearborn Street considered her family.
Robyn was passionate about her family and all the friends she made along life’s journey. For nearly a decade, starting in the early 2000s, she created yet another job for herself by volunteering at a memory-impaired facility in Chicago each Wednesday. For years, those residents looked forward to their time with Robyn and her “children” Zach and Zippi (her two little dogs), as she would cart them from one room to the next where they provided a sense of loving calmness.
Robyn loved to travel, and did so abroad frequently. For decades, she made the monthly drive down to Kansas City to see her friends and family — always with a smile.
Robyn leaves behind her mother, Helen Rae Cerier of Prairie Village; her brother Skip Cerier of Katy, Texas; her nephew Michael Cerier (Lauren) of Olathe, Kansas; and her niece Laurel Cerier (Conrad Brown) of Chicago. She also leaves behind her two ‘adopted’ nieces Alison Mayer (Joe) of Chicago and Jennifer Mayer Reidy (Jim) of Kansas City.
A graveside service will be held on Sunday, Jan. 16 at 2 p.m. at Mt. Carmel Cemetery, 5529 Ditzler Ave, Raytown, Missouri. For Zoom information, please email . In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or a charity of one’s choice. Online condolences may be left at louismemorialchapel.com.
