Cynthia Louise Nelms Byrne (nee Laffoon) was born to surprised parents, Arthur Lee and Celia  Laffoon (they expected a boy) on March 18, 1949 in Denver, Colorado.

She did her best as a child to be as much of a tomboy as possible, and got into childish trouble with various small  pranks. She grew up in Denver, got in a little trouble here and there by wrecking the family car,  etc. and enrolled at Colorado State University as an art major. She got in some more trouble by trying to be a hippie and running away. However, Cindy gradually settled down into a first marriage, divorce, then a second more interesting marriage, divorce, and after all that, Cindy finally met her most excellent husband, Robert Byrne, when he lived in California. At the time, she in Denver as a mortgage banker, and Cindy wrote Robert a provocative letter, to which he responded almost immediately. The most memorable part of her existence was her thirty years with Bob, and he wiped out the memory of all those other husbands and beaus.

Bob and Cindy lived in Denver, the San Francisco Bay  Area, Spain, then eventually picked Dubuque, Bob’s home town, to settle in. They loved living in Dubuque  and became enmeshed in many of the arts with the Dubuque Symphony and Dubuque  Museum of Art getting most of their energies. Cynthia opened The Main Gallery in 2000, when  Bob and Cindy moved downtown to Main Street, and ran it as an unintentional non-profit for  four-plus years. She kept painting and drawing for years afterward with The Art Studio, which  included several of her longstanding artist friends. After Bob’s death in 2016, Cindy lost her  enthusiasm for painting and spent her spare time reading, watching films and taking care of her building at 198 Main Street, about which she wanted to write a book called “Landlady Blues,” but never got around to it.

Cindy leaves her cat Diabla, her Book Club From Hell, artistic and  non-artistic friends (among the dearest being Patty Wentz and Leslie Shalabi), her stepson, Russell Byrne, his wife Jackie, their children Julia (Trent) Byrne Carlson and Tyler Byrne, her most extraordinary nieces and nephews by marriage (the most precious being Linda Byrne), and their many offspring, who all have had a special place in Cindy’s heart because of all  the fun and love they gave her. She was pre-deceased by her sister, Nancy Taylor and her husband Robert Byrne.

Don’t feel sad about her death. According to the law of the conservation of energy, not a bit of her is gone; she’s just less orderly. She loved this thought by William K. Maxwell: “Because I actively enjoy sleeping, dreams, the unexplainable dialogues  that take place in my head as I am drifting off… I tell myself that lying down to an afternoon nap.”

According to her wishes, there will be no services. Friends and family are welcome to attend a celebration of Cindy’s life at 1 pm  on Sunday, January 26, 2025. The celebration will take place at Convivium Urban Farmstead, 2811 Jackson Street in Dubuque.

Contributions can be made to the Dubuque Symphony in her name, or whatever charity you desire.