Devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Cynthia Phyllis Blane died in Hadley on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 27, 2014 with family at her side.

Born on July 6, 1928 to Milton and Sally Weber, Cynthia grew up in Brooklyn, New York, graduated from James Madison High School with honors, and attended Brooklyn College.  In her twenties, as the married mother of 2 young children, she, along with a number of family members, trekked across the country and settled in the Southern California area. It was there she raised her family and led an active social life with a close circle of friends from her temple.

In 1968 she returned to the Northeast and soon met and married Murray Blane.  They celebrated their 45^th Anniversary shortly before her death.  During the course of those years, Cynthia and Murray lived in New Jersey, California, the Berkshires, and Florida.  A few years ago they moved to the Amherst area to be closer to family.

‘Charlie’, as she was affectionately referred to by Murray and his family, loved to travel.  She and Murray journeyed to a wide range of exciting locations in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Mexico, and the Caribbean.  She was extremely intelligent, an avid reader, and an inquisitive, life-long learner (as recently as last year taking a UMASS extension course).  Also a lover of the arts, Cynthia enjoyed opera, classical music, movies, theater and dance – in fact, she was a fine dancer herself.  She learned to play tennis in her 50’s and became a very knowledgeable spectator of the sport (and a big fan of ‘Rafa’).

Over the years, family became Cynthia’s main priority and she relished her role as the family matriarch. She will be deeply missed by her husband Murray Blane, her son Steven Leiblum, and daughter-in-law Lennie Ware, and her daughter Wendy Edinson and son-in-law Les Edinson.  She’ll also be missed by stepson William Blane and wife Amy Gross, and stepdaughter Jo Ellen Aaron.  Mourning her loss, too, are her grandchildren Eli Edinson, Asa Edinson, Mollie Edinson Domian and her husband Christopher Domian, as well as Mishy Leiblum, Raffi Leiblum, and his wife Kristina Kunkel, and Scott Aaron and his wife, Erin Cooper.  She also leaves behind 4 adorable great grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were provided by the Douglass Funeral Home.  On Tuesday, December 2^nd, there will be a private memorial held for close family members. Contributions to Amherst Cinema, 28 Amity Street, Amherst MA 01002 may be made in her memory. Obituary and memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com

Service details, Social networking, Memorial Guestbook and Slideshow are available here.