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Cynthia Garstin Blackwell of Albuquerque, NM, and formally of Honolulu, HI, died on July 19, 2006 at her Albuquerque home. She was also a lifetime summer resident of Salisbury , CT who loved her house on West Twin Lake built in 1924 by her parents, D.V. and Betty Garstin. Born on June 22, 1933 she attended Westover High School and received a B.S. in Zoology from Vassar College in 1955. She maintained her interest in the natural world working as a skilled volunteer zoologist at the New Mexico Museum of Natural Science and History as well as the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, HI. Her favorite pastimes revolved around her Jack Russell Terriers and her Shetland Sheepdogs, which she loved, trained, and showed in dog shows. In 1984 her Shetland Sheepdog Easter Lee Kanuka became a champion. She volunteered her time and dogs assisting the Canine Corps as they toured hospitals, hospices, and juvenile detention centers to bring smiles to people in difficult straits. Her associations included the New Mexico Rio Grande Kennel Club, the AKC Jack Russell Club, and the Sandia Dog Obedience Club. Cynthia was predeceased by her former husband, Jesse Eugene Blackwell and also by their infant son, Frederick Valdemar Blackwell, in whose memory a fund was created at St Johns Episcopal Church in Salisbury that continues to this day. She is survived by daughter, Frances Elizabeth Blackwell; son, Benjamin Dalton Blackwell; three grandchildren, Robert, Kathleen, and David; and two great-grandchildren, Drake and one arriving in October. Two Memorial Services are planned, the first on August 19, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. at St Chads Episcopal Church, 7171 Tennyson Dr NE (Tramway and San Rafael) in Albuquerque, and the second at St Johns Episcopal Church in Salisbury, CT with an interment of her ashes at 11:00 a.m. on October 14, 2006. Tax free donations may be sent in lieu of flowers to the family founded Koke'e Natural History Museum on the island of Kauai at PO Box 100, Kekaha, HI 96752.
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