When Cindy Elaine Gist passed away on February 14, 2025, the world lost a quietly dynamic and resilient powerhouse. And we’re all sad, and pretty damn mad at cancer.

But it doesn’t stop there:

• Cindy’s wife Emily lost her great love and partner
• Cindy’s daughters Teddy and Julia lost their dynamic and adventurous mother
• Cindy’s ever-growing group of dogs and cats lost their person who loved them and who always kept the water bowls filled (good luck with those water bowls, Emily!)
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center lost a leader who valued her staff and strove to make health care patient-centered and accessible
• And Cindy’s friends and chosen family lost a loyal badass person who was never without something interesting to share about what she was learning – but only if you asked her – Cindy was never pedantic

Cindy grew up in Smyrna, Georgia, and was raised by her father Herman, her mother Teddy, and her grandmother. These three adults adored Cindy – it seems they believed the sun set and rose on their girl – and that may well be the reason she walked through the world with such confidence. And why she loved the people in her life so well.

Cindy’s energy and intelligence served her in her career, which included several years in Washington D.C. politics, and then moving into health care, which included flying throughout the Pacific Northwest all hours of the night and day as a tissue technician, and next at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, beginning as a laboratory technician, and ending in executive leadership.

Cindy’s life outside of work was full of what she loved: Cooking new recipes, entertaining, reading, travel, tending to the acreage that surrounded every home she lived in – she loved rural life. She climbed almost all of the seven summits, scuba-dived, hiked, biked, and even had a motorcycle for a time.

But most of all, she loved her life at home: Her people, animals, books, music, and just being at peace in her surroundings. If you knew her well, you also knew she could be silly. And oh how she loved her Emily, Teddy, and Julia.

Nobody knows what happens after we die. But when that mystery is revealed, those of us who love Cindy Gist are pretty sure when we see her next she’ll be waiting for us with a bottle of Italian wine, classical music on a really good stereo, a stack of books on the table next to her, and surrounded by the dogs and cats she loved so much. She’ll tell us she’s got this new recipe she wants us to try, and that there are a whole bunch more places we need to plan to travel to with her.

We love you, Cindy Gist. Losing you is earth-shattering. Until we see you again, we’ll laugh at silly things we remember sharing with you, we’ll marvel at your insight and whip-smartness, your love for nature and animals, your solid love for your family, and your unwavering commitment to the work you did.