Cindabeth Suzanne (Sims) Morgan

Cindabeth Suzanne (Sims) Morgan

Cindabeth Suzanne (Sims) Morgan was born in New York state on November 20, 1954.
At the age of six months, she was adopted by John Albert Sims and Elizabeth Margaret (Potter) Sims, who had long desired to have children.
She preserved a letter written by her father to his father, describing the delight they felt at her arrival. But Cindy did not have the luxury of being an only child for long, as her younger sister, Vickie, was born in February of 1956.
Her earliest years were spent on her parents’ dairy farm (Guernseys) in upstate New York, sharing the household with two large boxer dogs, Ginger and Dubby, who took immediately to the new little ones in the family.
In 1959, the family moved to Ames, Iowa where her father completed his PhD and went on to become a member of faculty at ISU. The family moved to their home on Maxwell Avenue in 1961, and Cindy attended Meeker Elementary, Central Junior High and Ames High, graduating in 1973.
Cindy was rather a shy child but found her areas to shine. She enjoyed art, swimming and was an accomplished bowler.
She met her husband Neil while she was working at Iowa State and they married on 28th  April 1979, moving to Illinois where Neil was employed as a farm manager for a local bank. Cindy had begun her college studies at Iowa State and later completed her degree at the University of Illinois in child development.
Shortly after Cindy became pregnant with Julie in 1981, the Morgans returned to Mt. Ayr so that Neil could return to the family farm. Cindy, always rather a ‘city girl’ (the mark of ‘civilization’ being the presence of a shopping mall), struggled with farm life at first. While she never made her peace with rounding up cattle that had escaped during the night, she did come to appreciate many aspects of rural life.
After the birth of their second daughter, Katie, in 1982, she focused her energies on raising her two daughters.  She spent countless hours playing house, reading books and enjoying all the activities motherhood had to offer while staying home with her girls.
Once the girls were old enough, some of Cindy’s favorite jobs included working with children at Mt. Ayr Elementary School as an aid and the Family Resource Center.
Later in life, much of her love and attention shifted to her grandchildren. There were always plenty of hugs at Grandma Cindy’s along with the soft drinks and candy you weren’t allowed to have at home. And cats to play with!
It was a great joy for Cindy to be able to move into her house on East Adams in recent years. This meant being even closer to the grandchildren’s daily lives—and her house became the meeting point for after school friends and homework.
Cindy offered her time and talents to her local Methodist church, and, while cooking was never ‘her thing’, she was a good friend and neighbor, always ready with a word of encouragement, or a greeting card with just the right message.
In her later years, Cindy grew curious about her birth family, and while initially the information she was allowed to access was very limited, she was able to find out that she was born as one of the younger children to a larger family. It came as a real surprise when Cindy was ‘found’ through an ancestry site by a niece—the daughter of one of her birth brothers, Ted. This led to a reunion between the two in 2017.
Throughout her life, Cindy suffered with various health issues, yet she retained her sense of humor and worked through her darkest times with perseverance and courage.
In recent weeks she had determined that the time was right to enter hospice care at home, so that she could simply enjoy the company of her family in the surroundings that brought her serenity and joy. She died peacefully at home, enfolded in the love of her family, on 1st March.
Cindy, with her loving and generous heart and her unique approach to life, will be deeply missed. She has left her mark of love on so many. May she rest in peace.
Surviving are her children: Julie (Justin) Neas and Katie (Matt) Routh. Grandchildren: Clay (Amber) Neas, Brody Neas (finance Kylee Smith), Ella Waske, and Claire, Nash and Libby Routh. Great grandchildren: Brantley and Delaney Neas. Sister: Vickie (David) Sims Tabbot.
Visitation will be held Friday, March 8 from 9:30 am to 11:00 am with a Celebration of Life beginning at 11:00 am at Armstrong Funeral Home. Private burial will be held at a later date in the Oliver Cemetery, east of Blackmore corner. A memorial fund has been established for the Mount Ayr Raider Education Foundation.