Cynthia “Cyndy” Starr Hunter Hutchinson, 64, passed away on April 16, 2015, in the comfort of her home in San Clemente, Calif., with her daughter. She left this world peacefully after a courageous battle with brain cancer.
Cyndy was born in Rochester, Minnesota, on April 18, 1954, the second oldest in a robust family of four to Margaret May Stoner and Dr. James Stanley Hunter. Her childhood was filled with shenanigans, horse riding, road trips and endless adventures with her beloved siblings Leslie Anne Windyka, James (Jimmy) Stanley Hunter the 3rd, Lauren Patrice Hunter, her many cousins and Dalmatian Tammy.
Cyndy went to Manhattan High School in Kansas where she excelled as a swimmer on the Manhattan Marlins, was a cheerleader, talented dancer, horse lover and a proud Girl Scout.
She followed her oldest sister to Colorado State University where she majored in foreign language (Both Spanish and German) and was in the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She took a semester abroad in Mexico City solidifying her fluency in the Spanish language and her love for foreign travel. Post college she won the title of Miss Colorado, competing in the 1974 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City. She would make headlines in the newspapers over her cutoff jean shorts worn to the beach while dancing in the salty waves. (Quite shocking for a conservative pageant!)
While bartending in Denver, she met her future husband Edson Hutchinson with whom she would cherish years full of ski trips, world travels, real estate acquisitions, a thriving carousel business, and costume parties galore with their eccentric group of Denver friends. She boasted a successful career as a real estate salesperson which she started after ditching teaching “ungrateful brats” high school Spanish. By far her greatest joy was being the mother of her two daughters, Kelly and Dana. She put her heart and soul into raising her girls and giving them the gift of unconditional love.
She spent the last three years of her life in Laguna Beach where she mothered her children, enjoyed beach walks with her twin soul/pet dog Pinky, watched volleyball matches of daughter Dana, and relished in many close friendships with incredible women. She spent many seasons in Beaver Creek, Colo., where she helped build and design spectacular Swiss chalets with her husband, enjoyed buffets at the Sonnenalp, and taught her girls to ski as beautifully as she did. She visited Honolulu, Hawaii often to be with her Hawaiian family in law which included Irene, Ira, Darlene, Uncle Edson and a myriad of Tutus, aunties and cousins. Tutu Irene lovingly named her Hokulani, Heavenly Star. As a family, she loved beach days at the Outrigger Canoe Club, guava juice mornings on the patio at the Tahitienne, sunset dinners at the Hau Terrace, and trips to Kikila with beloved family friends. Her excited “Yahooo!” echoes in our memories from when she would catch a well-deserved wave on her longboard at Tonggs, or as she sailed by on skis; truly a dancer on snow.
Cyndy lived for new experiences, positivity, and touched many people’s lives with her compassion and dedication to everything she did. She was a living example of a strong woman to her daughters. She loved a weekly steak with a blue cheese chopped salad, a night out dancing, listening to music while doing her morning ballet stretches in the kitchen, beach barbecues in Emerald Bay, summer hikes in wildflower-covered slopes of the Vail Valley, cooking family dinners with her famous soup recipes, traveling through small European mountain towns, talking with strangers, Thanksgiving dinners in San Diego with her sister Lauren and her boys, making banana bread, sipping on Kona coffee, Arizona trips to see her parents and wearing plush bathrobes that she would buy for all the women in her family so they could match.
Cyndy waltzed through life with a smile on her face and laughter in her heart. She stopped to smell the roses. Life to her was about all the little things that made the world beautiful. She will be missed forever.
Cyndy is survived by her daughters, Kelly (Catalina) and Dana (Mike), ex-husband Edson Hutchinson, boyfriend Randy, sisters Lauren Hunter (Chuck) and Leslie Windyka, sister-in-law Darlene Hutchinson and Brenda Hunter, her niece Breanna, nephews Will, Jim, Little Jimmy, Michael and Mark. She was hilarious.
