Cynthia Lou Lockhart

Cynthia Lou (Wilson) Lockhart passed away, surrounded by her family, in Henderson, Nevada on January 23, 2026 at the age of 77 after a 15+ year journey with multiple autoimmune diseases. Up until the end, Cindy maintained her kindness, grace, fighting spirit, and love for her family and friends.

Cindy was born in Andrews, Texas on June 6, 1948, to Joe and Billie Jean Wilson and was the oldest of four siblings.

She attended Austin High School in El Paso, Texas from 1962-1966, where she played clarinet in the marching band and was a baton-twirling majorette her senior year. After graduation, she attended University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and worked at State National Bank, where her co-worker Eileen introduced Cindy to her younger brother Mike. Cindy and Mike were married January 17, 1970 and celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary six days before she passed.

They had their first daughter Kimberly in 1972 and then spent a brief time living in Paris, Texas before returning to El Paso, where daughter Kari was born in 1976 and son Ryan in 1979. Cindy was an active room mother in her kids’ classrooms and made her kids homemade cakes for their birthdays and creative costumes for Halloween.

She also enjoyed the sisterhood of Beta Sigma Phi sorority, serving as Secretary and President (twice) of her local chapter, where she was named “Outstanding Girl” in 1978-79 and 1979-80, as well as the Xi Rho Omega “Woman of the Year” for 1982-83.

In late 1984, the family (including a toy poodle and two cats) drove halfway across the county to Shelton, Connecticut when Mike was promoted to a new role at his corporate office. In Connecticut, the family experienced the culture shock of snowy winters, humid summers and their first hurricane. Mike made a promise to Cindy that if she still disliked the East Coast after three years, he'd look for a new job. But luckily, a California position in his company opened up two-and-half years later, and the family headed cross-country again (this time by plane) to Thousand Oaks, California where Mike and Cindy stayed for 34 years.

Cindy enjoyed the weather in Southern California much more than Connecticut and she especially loved her gardens and huge yard, which she spent many hours keeping beautiful.

She also enjoyed crafting, was an amazing cook, and -- once all the kids had moved out -- she and Mike became cruise aficionados, traveling to Mexico, the Caribbean and Alaska to name a few top trips. She and her daughter Kim also took a memorable mother/daughter trip to Italy in 2012, visiting Rome, Florence, the Tuscan Hills and Venice, where much shopping took place. Throughout her life, Cindy also loved listening to music and attending the concerts of her favorite female vocalists Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, and later Adele and Celine Dion. And she was an avid Los Angeles Lakers fan during the Kobe Bryant era.

At this time, Cindy also immersed herself in her love of art, taking classes at the California Art Institute and focusing on the mediums of oil painting, charcoal and graphite drawings. She most enjoyed painting a subject with a strong focal point, and hoped to inspire a desirable thought or feeling as viewers explored her work.

Sadly, in 2010, Cindy’s life was forever changed. After going through months and months of tests trying to figure out why she'd lost her sense of equilibrium and couldn't balance when she walked anymore, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. For years, she walked with a cane and took daily medications to control the disease’s progression. In 2012, Cindy’s kids and their friends began participating in the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s “Walk MS” fundraisers in Southern California and Nevada. Cindy, Mike and their friends joined them for many of the events in Southern California, with Cindy being honored as the 2017 Conejo Valley Walk MS “Most Inspirational Walker.” To date, the “Walk Hearts for Lockhart” team honoring her has raised more than $111k for the National MS Society, hoping to help fund a cure one day.

In May 2016, Cindy’s dream of becoming a grandmother finally came true (she and Mike had honestly given up hope!), when daughter Kari gave birth to Kaden Michael in Henderson, Nevada. Then, in January 2017, son Ryan gave them a granddaughter when Teegan Nicole was born in Southern California. Cindy jumped into her new role of “Grammy” and loved spending time with her two precious grandchildren.

In 2021, Cindy and Mike moved to Henderson, Nevada. The happy reason was to be near their beloved grandchildren Kaden and Teegan (who now lives with Ryan, also in Henderson). The sad reason was because Cindy's health necessitated a single-level home with room for a wheelchair to maneuver due to the continued progression of her MS and the second autoimmune disease she was diagnosed with in 2020, Stiff Persons Syndrome.

The family would like to thank Cindy’s loving caregiver Gale Borcherding for the care, compassion and friendship she showed Cindy the last two years of her life, and the support she provided to Mike and the rest of the family with her presence.

Cindy is preceded in death by her mother Billie Jean Wilson, father Joe Howard Wilson, nieces Desirae and Kristina Robbins, brother-in-law Wesley Lockhart, and many aunts and uncles.

She is survived by her husband Michael Lockhart, daughters Kimberly and Kari Lockhart, son Ryan Lockhart, grandson Kaden Lockhart, granddaughter Teegan Lockhart, sister Trudi Robbins (Jerry), brothers Joe Wilson Jr. (Betty) and David Wilson (Linda), half-brother Matt Wilson (Tammy), and many nieces and nephews, cousins and lifelong friends. The family also thanks Mike’s sisters Eileen Higgins and Gerrianne Walker (Scott) for their love and support.

Family and friends are invited to attend funeral services in the Chapel of the Oaks at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks-Griffin Memorial Park at 5600 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village, CA 91362 on Monday, February 9, 2026 at 2:00 pm.

Interment to follow at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks-Griffin Memorial Park, Court of St. Peter.

If you would like to honor Cindy, please consider a donation in her memory to the National MS Society. The family has set up a memorial fund in her name here: https://donate.nationalmssociety.org/campaigns/cindy_lockhart_memorial