Born and raised in Kokomo, Indiana Cindy arrived in New Smyrna Beach in 2014 by way of Raleigh, NC, Franklin, TN, Dayton, OH, Bluffton, IN, Flagstaff AZ, and South Bend, IN along with her husband Dan. Their two daughters Emily Edwards and Brooke Chen already lived here. Emily was the CCUMC youth director, which led Cindy and Dan to CCUMC. The family also includes Emily’s husband, Stu and their two boys Tripp and Harrison and Mable the dog.

Cindy attended Goshen College, a Mennonite school, in Goshen, Indiana, majoring in elementary education, though she never taught. While there, Cindy says the trimester she spent in an immersion program in Haiti was the biggest adventure of her life. She taught English to village children and planted avocado trees down the side of a mountain.

When Cindy was a freshman in high school, her husband, Dan, was a senior and a friend of her brother. When Cindy was a senior, Dan was home from college and asked her out;  they got married in 1975. Dan pursued a career as a cytogeneticist while Cindy wore many hats. Interested in finance, she became a teller at a bank and advanced to branch coordinator. In Flagstaff, she was the administrative assistant to the journalism department chair and scheduled events for the Dean of the College of Communications at Northern Arizona University. Wanting to try something new Cindy got a job in a chiropractor’s office, became the physician’s assistant and eventually became an X-ray technician. Because of her financial and insurance background she also worked for four doctors settling problem insurance claims.