Obituary of Cynthia Brutzman

Cynthia Nightingale Smith Brutzman was born August 7, 1921 in Spring Lake, New Jersey. She was considered an "army brat". Her father, Kirwin Taylor Smith, served 43 years in the regular army, achieving the rank of full Colonel. Her mother, Olive Nightingale Lesher Smith, related that she moved 32 times during her marriage and loved the army life. After Cynthia's birth the family lived in Syracuse, New York; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Fort Benning, Georgia; Fort Warren, Wyoming; Schenectady Army Depot, New York: Richmond, Virginia; San Antonio, Texas and Towanda, Pennsylvania. Cynthia attended Sweet Briar College in Virginia and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1943. To participate in the WW II war effort she worked for eighteen months as a censorship clerk in the Canal Zone, Panama, and had many adventures. After the war she went to New York City and graduated from Packard Business School. She was employed in Manhattan in various secretarial positions. She later moved to Ithaca, New York, where she was fortunate to be hired in the Placement Office at Cornell University. She married John Andrew Brutzman of Towanda, Pennsylvania in 1958. After her marriage she was employed as a caseworker with the Department of Public Welfare in Towanda for six years. John and Cynthia moved to State College in 1964 when John became Assistant Editor, later Associate Editor, of The Centre Daily Times. In 1965, Cynthia began her employment with The Pennsylvania State University. She served in the office of Personnel Administration as an Employment Specialist, retiring in 1983. Both Cynthia and her husband were active in community affairs. They were animal lovers and always had a special cat or dog or both in their home to enrich their lives. They traveled extensively in the United States, Europe and the Caribbean. Cynthia enjoyed taking her young step-grandchildren on hiking and camping trips. She was an ardent environmentalist, loved ocean swimming as well as theatre, classical music, books and exploring foreign places. She dabbled in water color painting and writing. At one point she wrote a monthly column for The Centre Daily Times entitled "Animal Accents". Her only sibling, Kirwin T. Smith, Jr., served in WW II and died in Elmira, New York in 1973. Her husband, John Brutzman, died in State College in 2002. Cynthia is survived by one step-son, William Brutzman of Royal Palm Beach, Florida; numerous step-grandchildren; a niece, Robin Carolyn Smith Moulton of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and two nephews, Allen Crittenden Smith and Ross Nightingale Smith of Elmira, New York. She was predeceased by a step-son, Michael Brutzman. Contributions in Cynthia's memory may be made to the Sierra Club, 83 Second Street, San Francisco, California, 94105 or to the PASPCA, 2451 General Potter Highway, Centre Hall, Pennsylvania 16828.