Obituary of Cynthia Libby

On January 3, 2019 Cynthia Whitney Libby, 84 of Putnam put away her rolling pin and lasagna pans, turned off the Hallmark Channel and left to join her husband of 54 years at the big party in the sky.

Born in Houlton, Maine on August 5, 1934 she was the beloved and devoted daughter of Dr. Arthur and Gladys (Morehouse) Whitney and the adoring younger sister of Arthur, Jr. (Sonny).  She graduated from Old Town High School where she joined forces with a group of merrymakers called the Jolly Juniors, with whom she rendezvoused in New England coastal towns 60 years past graduation. Cynthia attended the University of Maine where after falling asleep face down in a book too many times, she shelved her own books and went on to shelve others in the university library. There she entranced a young country boy with squeaky shoes and a funny name (Seabury Byron Libby). She married him, raised 3 children and worked alongside him in Libby’s Supermarket.

Cynthia’s adventures in retail (Kmart-where she was literally their biggest cheerleader) and at the Brooklyn Public Schools where she was a teacher’s aid, served as a backdrop to her true passion as the consummate hostess. A quintessential extrovert, with an enormously generous heart, she loved entertaining people in and outside her home.

Cynthia leaves daughters Karen and Diane (husband Paul, children James and Katherine) and son Kevin who will miss her apple pies, bunny cakes, lobster feasts, (seriously) over the top holiday decorations and “You want it, get it” approach to life.

A brief goodbye will be held Monday, January 7, 2019 at 11:00 AM (following calling hours at 10:00) at Smith Walker Funeral Home, 148 Grove Street, Putnam. Burial in Grove Street Cemetery. Donations may be made to Day Kimball Hospital Healthcare or Hospice of Northeast Connecticut, PO Box 632, Putnam, CT 06260. Share a memory at www.smithandwalkerfh.com