Cynthia Hart

Cynthia Hart (nee Carbone) was born in Wakefield, MA, and was the oldest child of John and Gloria Carbone. She was raised in North Reading, where she flourished as her high school’s scholar/athlete and earned 11 varsity letters. She continued her education at Boston University, and in just five years, she had completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education. Cynthia was hired by the Stoneham Public School system, where for 34 years she taught Physical Education and coached Gymnastics, Field Hockey, and Track and Field; as well as several other sports.

Cynthia was a talented athlete, a dedicated teacher, and a gifted coach. She spent countless hours establishing and operating a Gymnastics program for the Town of Stoneham, where she introduced gymnastics to kindergarteners and honed the skillset of young gymnasts up through the high school Varsity team level. She built a strong Varsity Gymnastics team, coaching her athletes to numerous victories and league records. The end of each season was always capped off with the annual Gymnastics Show, featuring all the students in the program, from the youngest “Mighty Mites” to the numerous high school Varsity Gymnastics team champions.

Cynthia also loved coaching Field Hockey, and she molded the Varsity team into a force to be reckoned with in the Middlesex League. Even after illness had curtailed her ability to coach these teams, she lent her expertise to the high school’s drama club by choreographing the sword fight scenes for productions like “Robin Hood, the Musical”, and by starting and coaching a wildly successful chess club on a meager budget of $50.

Cynthia took on all aspects of life with a fiery and vigorous zest, tempered with a rich sense of humor and adventure. After retiring from teaching, she and her wife sold their home, bought an RV, and set out on the Great Hart Adventure, a 5-year journey to explore the United States. Although medical issues cut their travels short, they had plans to continue shorter RV trips after settling in San Diego for their sunset years.

Those familiar with Cynthia knew that her approach to adversity was to challenge it. As an athlete, she had her share of sports injuries and surgeries, and she was always able to recover. But she had also suffered severe migraines starting in her early teens. It wasn’t until her late forties that doctors found the cause of those debilitating migraines, which was a large cerebral AVM. It took six brain surgeries for the doctors to cure the AVM, but not before Cynthia had suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. That recovery was a difficult one. Cynthia had to relearn almost everything, including reading and writing. In fact, it was her love of teaching and her students that motivated Cynthia’s recovery. She worked diligently to relearn “life”, and she returned to teaching within a year and a half. There was little that could hold her back from a goal. Cynthia no longer suffered the debilitating migraines, and that was the silver lining in the cloud of all those brain surgeries. Cynthia also faced three different types of cancer over last 25 years of her life, and she conquered the disease twice. The last, bile duct cancer, proved impossible to beat.

Cynthia had a great love for all animals, and in addition to a parrot, who came to live with her in the late 70’s, she always had two or three dogs in her life. She loved rescuing dogs, whether it was greyhounds off the racetrack, a dog from a shelter, an unwanted family member’s or neighbor’s pet; or even a “stray” that she would pick up off the street, take to the vet and pay for emergency care, only to discover that the “stray” was the lost pet of a neighbor who was frantically searching for their dog. In this spirit and in lieu of flowers, the best way to remember Cynthia would be with a donation to your favorite rescue organization. Better yet, consider adopting a new four-legged family member from your local rescue shelter.

Cynthia is survived by her loving wife, Carolyn, with whom she navigated 38 brief but wonderful years. She leaves behind many family members; the very highest quality of friends; her dogs, Teddy Bear and Frankie; and her 43-year old, Blue-Fronted Amazon parrot, Taco.

Interment is at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego.

To the ends of the earth, my love.