Cynthia Dillon
Dec. 16, 1940-Dec. 2, 2023
Palo Alto, California

The family and friends of Cynthia Dillon mourn her death this month at the age of 82. Her life was filled with love for family, close friendships, an unstoppable work ethic, and a deep appreciation for food, travel, and the arts.

Cindy lived for 24 years with determination and optimism in the face of the relentless impacts of scleroderma, a rare auto-immune condition. Her physical health had declined rapidly over recent months, and she accepted in late November that her body had become too weak for continued medical interventions to be meaningful. After a holiday celebration with family and a week of leave-taking, she entered hospice care. She died gracefully and without suffering, with her daughters by her side.

Many of us were privileged to witness the 55-year love affair that was her marriage to her beloved husband and best friend, Dennis Dillon, who died in April 2020. Together Denny and Cindy found joy in adventures like skiing, sailing, and foreign travel and in a lasting companionship in quiet moments at home.

We remember her gifts as a mother, friend, advocate, engineer, community volunteer, and chef. Her daughters and granddaughters remember her as the architect behind every-other-weekend Sierra ski trips, summers in Europe, support on the sidelines of every game, applause in the audience of every performance, and magical holidays at home, especially Christmas. During her years as a homemaker and primary parent, the refrigerator was full, the meals homemade and healthy, and the door always open to any friends looking for a snack, a hug, and warm acceptance.

The friends she made during 56 years in Palo Alto remember her enthusiasm for TheatreWorks, day trips around the Bay Area, fast-paced walks around town, Stanford women’s sports, and, back in the day, a slice of Prolific Oven chocolate cake. Starting when she and Denny first moved to Garland Drive in 1967, they made friendships that lasted the rest of their lives, sharing mutual support and home-cooked meals, as well as ski trips, football tailgate parties under the oak tree, and jubilant Fourth of July block parties. Cindy and Denny also met kindred souls from around the country on the ski slopes, creating a joyful group that met across decades to ski and enjoy each other’s company at Alta, Breckenridge, Whistler, and Lake Louise.

Cindy was born in Topeka, Kansas and raised in Amarillo, Texas. After a high school career notable for its academic awards and leadership roles in local and regional organizations, she attended the University of Denver. Many of her college stories centered on her experiences as a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority where she made life-long friends. She served as President of the chapter, as well as the University’s Panhellenic Council. She graduated a term early with a major in Mathematics, having carried a large purse throughout her college career to keep her slide rule out of sight.

She was hired by Dow Chemical Company in Denver as a quality control engineer, becoming the first woman employed there in a non-secretarial capacity. During that time, she also learned to ski and earned the company’s “Ski Bunny” award. After meeting and marrying Denny, she worked as a teacher in New Jersey and, when they moved to Chicago, led one of the country’s first HeadStart programs. When the couple moved to California and started a family, she dedicated herself to full-time parenting. Returning to work in the 1980’s, she developed a business providing database services to small companies, using early desktop computers and custom programming.

Cindy is survived by her daughters, Kristen and Kimberly, Kristen’s husband Paul Blackburn, and her granddaughters Althea and Rosalie (pictured in 2010). She was predeceased by her parents, brother, and husband.