Cynthia Anne Smith

Our beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother Cynthia Anne Hoskisson Smith, age 79, passed away peacefully on February 17, 2024. She is now reunited with her cherished husband, Michael.

Mom was born on December 1, 1944, in the Salt Lake City LDS Hospital. She is the youngest child of Clifford Arnison Hoskisson and Madelyn Faye Willis Hoskisson, and was the favorite grandchild for quite some time as she was the only girl. She was named after her great grandmother, Cynthia Jane Jewett who, after leaving England, crossed the plains with the pioneers. Cynthia Jane brought a family chair to Utah which mom cherished and took loving care of wherever she lived. Mom loved her name, but she thought it was a mouthful, so in the 5th grade she chose her nickname as “Cyndy”.

 Mom lived in Salt Lake City until just after her fourth birthday when the family relocated to one of her most favorite places, the small town of Garfield, Utah. Mom absolutely loved living in her idyllic little town of Garfield. She followed her older brothers, David and Clifford, around on adventures. She said, “we roamed free, had a pool in almost our backyard and I knew every single one of my neighbors and everyone was friends,” which included her good friends Kathleen Anderson and Bernice Dilley. Having good friends became a theme throughout mom’s life. Because of her fun and sparkling personality, she found and kept good friends everywhere she went. When Kennecott decided to tear down the town, their family relocated to Kearns, Utah, where she was enrolled in Kearns Jr. High. It was there she met her lifetime friends, Enola McCarren and JoAnn Curley.

 When she was a junior in high school she went on a double date with her good friend Brent Hathaway, who introduced her to the other couple, which included Mike Smith “and some girl from Richfield.” She made sure to spend the entire evening talking to Mike. She said, “he was funny and handsome.” At the end of the double date, Mike was smitten and asked her out to the pep rally and that, as they say, was that. They never dated anyone else. Dad asked mom to marry him as they shared a banana split at Snelgrove’s ice cream parlor in the spring of 1962. While mom finished her senior year in high school, Mike went off to BYU. She was junior prom queen, editor of the yearbook, a class officer, a Sterling Scholar and received numerous scholarships. She used to laugh and say, “I wrote letters and notes in shorthand and typed 120 words a minute with complete accuracy, nobody else could keep up with me.” She graduated from Granger High School in 1963. Her focus then was becoming Mrs. Mike Smith. She said, “he was a keeper and I wasn’t letting him go.”

 Mike and Cyndy were married on September 11, 1963 in the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple. They spent the next three years at BYU going to football games and making friends before children came along. She said, “We spent those years becoming best friends and that laid the foundation for an eternal marriage.”

 At BYU, she and Dad met their lifelong friends Pete and Karen Belliston. While enjoying their time together at BYU, Dad went to school and played on the BYU golf team and mom worked. One of their greatest friends, Coach Karl Tucker, helped mom get a job on campus so she could support Dad while he went to school. After marrying Mike, Mom also became good friends with her sisters- in-law, Karol McDonough, Cindy Smith, Rita Smith, Sheila Smith and Lois Barker.

Their first child, Michael Sean, was born in 1966, Jennefer Madelyn came along in 1968, followed by Chantel Elizabeth in 1971, Randon McDonough in 1974 and Henry “Hank” Ryan in 1978. Following Dad’s graduation, they began their early years together in Granger, then Taylorsville, and then spent most of their lives in St. George, Utah. Mom met and gathered more friends in these new places, such as Ann Jones, Marsha Campbell and Nancy Baker. She worked full-time for the Granite School District offices, then Dixie College’s Udvar-Hazy Business School as the assistant to the Dean where she was able to finish her associate and bachelor’s degrees. Mom worked at Dixie College for 27 years before retiring. She loved helping the students at Dixie College. She and Dad both worked all day, then after returning home, they enjoyed twilight walks and ended their evenings with ice cream and an episode of Stargate or Star Trek.

Mom grew up in what she called a semi-religious family but didn’t attend church often. It was during her sophomore year that two friends invited her to attend seminary. Just like many other things in her life, she jumped in with both feet. She became a faithful follower of Jesus Christ and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served in all areas of the church. She was Primary president, Young Women’s president (her absolute favorite) and Relief Society president numerous times throughout her life. She listened to and followed the Spirit as she raised her rambunctious and busy five children. 

Her greatest passions, besides Dad, were to spend time watching her children and grandchildren  on the field, on the stage, and on the golf course. She loved to listen to Johnny Cash, travel, play games,  and laugh. In their later years, Mom and Dad frequently visited Chantel and Cooper in Florida. Her favorite place to be was the Gulf of Mexico; she loved boating and roaming the beach looking for  seashells along the Florida coastline.

She was preceded in death by her love, Michael (Mike) Pipkin Smith; her son, Michael Sean Smith; her daughter-in-law, Angela Smith; her parents; and her brother, Clifford Hoskisson. She is survived by her brother, David Hoskisson; four surviving children, Jennefer, Chantel, Randon and Hank (Sara); 12 grandchildren, five great grandchildren, and a large beautiful extended family who love their “Aunt Cyndy.”

We would like to extend special thanks to Spring Gardens Living Community in Mapleton, Utah. After dad passed away there in 2021, the management, staff (mom always praised her friends Pat, Shelly and Shawna), and residents of Spring Gardens rallied around mom until the end.

Mom was fun, bubbly, and made friends wherever she went. We grew up knowing the names and faces of those she loved because they were so important to her. Her greatest friend was the love of her life, Mike, and she was loyal, loving and devoted to him. Mike cared selflessly for her as her caregiver as her health declined these last two decades before his death in March of 2021. We are so happy that they are reunited and playing together once again.

 Funeral services will be held at the Mapleton Main Street meeting house located at 1580 North Main Street, Mapleton, Utah on Saturday, February 24 from 11:00 a.m.–Noon. A viewing will be held that morning from 9:30–10:30 a.m. Interment will be at Spanish Fork Cemetery in Spanish Fork, Utah.

The funeral service will be livestreamed for those who can not attend; click on the link below to view.

To send  condolences, visit www.legacyfiunerals.com