Cynthia Jo Colitti. Cindy Jo.

3rd sister of us 4. Candy. Debby. Cindy. Cathy. Then Joey. Her middle name an homage to her father. He loved all of us. But when he looked at Cindy there was a particular twinkle in his eye. Affection and a special sweet connection. She was petite like his father and sister Vera.

Cindy was devoted to her horse Toro Toro. It was a bond beyond riding. Which she did very well. She was driven or took her white Honda 50 motorcycle back and forth to the stables every day after school. Pure joy.

I wasn’t around much for her formative social years, but Cindy seemed to like living in large groups with tons of friends, the center of any party. She summered on Cape Cod, working at the Crystal Palace in Hyannis. She also bartended at the Blue Wall at UMass Amherst, where she was a student. Despite all that fun over her 6 years at UMass, she earned a B.S. in finance and an M.B.A. from its Isenberg School of Management.

During her time at UMass, Cindy took an internship with The Washington Center, and worked for then West Virginia Governor Jay Rockefeller. She lived in a building on NW in Washington, DC. Cindy helped brother Joe get an internship there 5 years later and he lived in the same apparently roach-infested building on NW.

She was recruited by Citibank in NYC and became its youngest VP at 28. As a woman at that time it was a major coup. She managed teams in product development operations and was promoted to top leadership positions. She lived in Scarsdale and commuted into Manhattan. When I made a major life and career change to NY in the winter of 1981, she was great to take me in. We took Metro North into the City together and after work I met many of her colleagues. They all respected and admired her personally and professionally. A couple nights after too much fun at Charley O’s Cindy & I fell asleep on the train home and missed our stop.

Cindy and I soon moved into the City together. She took over the lease from our childhood friend. A gray-stone walk-up on 55 West 76th close to Columbus Avenue. I slept on the pull-out couch in the living room with a fireplace. She had the bedroom up a couple of stairs with its own brick deck. Cindy would spend hours (it seemed) sitting on the living room floor blow drying her luscious shiny long thick wavy black locks every day. Getting ready to go to work or out in the evenings. She was dating Ed, who came to nephew Jamison’s Christening on Martha’s Vineyard. Then she had a long relationship with Martin W. They remained life friends.

One night Cindy & I found ourselves at Elaine’s, the venerable boozy literati hangout on the Upper East Side. We were at a table near the window in front and we were chatting with Elaine herself who was perched on her barstool in the corner as usual and was in one of her more cordial moods. Two gents decided to join us at our table. They bought us Champagne. Lots and lots of it. We had to orchestrate a stealth skeee-daddle into a quick cab home.

On a summer evening, Cindy and I ran into my old college roommate at Tosca in Central Park, who later set me up on a blind date. Long story short, after living with Cindy on the Upper West Side for 6 months, I moved down to Gary Levine’s loft in the West Village and Martin W. moved in with Cindy. She continued to rise in her Citibank career and live in the apartment on West 76th for many years thereafter.

Gary & I soon married and moved to San Francisco, so not sure when/how the transition from Martin to Bob Burke from the Adirondacks occurred. We got to know Bob on family visits back East. April 1994, we came with almost 5-year old Ben from San Francisco for Cindy & Bob’s wedding at First Church and the Lord Jeffrey Inn in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was a sweet and rollicking occasion. Had such a good time staying in Northampton that weekend, we ended up moving there. Cindy & Bob moved to an antique home with several barn buildings on beautiful Beaver Dam land in bucolic Katonah, New York.

Cindy commuted into the City as a Managing Director at Citibank and a leading expert in financial product development. She was instrumental in designing the hub-and-spoke model of retail investing and created her own spin-off company, Signature Financial with former Citibank colleagues. Signature was so successful it eventually merged with Merrill Lynch. She achieved a stellar career.

And remained a Manhattanite. She discovered a little hair salon downstairs in a brownstone on the Upper East Side where she found a new friend Frédéric Fekkai. Way before he was famous. Her chic short cut emerged. On a visit to New York, Cindy convinced me to go with her to meet him. He was alone in his one-chair shop and we three chatted as he scissored away. He charged $400 even then. It was worth it to be with her and him.

Cindy completely treasured her over 30-year membership at the Adirondack League Club near Old Forge, New York. She had a community of longtime friends with whom she seemed at home and independent in a world of her own making. She owned a personal red guide boat which she rowed on Little Moose Lake where loons called over the calm water at dusk and deer flawlessly manicured the bottom of fir trees along the shore. She’d gather all of us up there in the gorgeous log main house and cabins for her birthday celebrations in late August.

When she was 41 she got pregnant and her joy was curtailed by a life-threatening health crisis. Yet she was brave and held on to her deep love for her little baby boy Ray as she faced long hard surgeries and treatments. Being Ray’s mother was a constant source of solace, determination, pride and happiness.

She continued to thrive as a leader in retail finance. On 9/11 her office was near the World Trade Center in Building #7. I was frantic to find her that day. Luckily she was at a meeting in mid-town and finally, found her with brother Joe and the relief was profound. 9/11 will always conjure up Cindy. She and her colleagues had to relocate to various sites after that and it was unsettling for everyone.

At a family gathering on Martha’s Vineyard, Cindy & a young Ben decided to surprise everyone by making sushi. Cindy went out and found a “kit” and the two of them made beautiful seaweed wrapped rolls for the whole clan.

Cindy and Bob Burke hosted many wonderful Thanksgivings at their home and “party barn” in Katonah. Some snowy. Some warm. Either way, cocktails outside by the fire pit. Football with the cousins. Told her it was my favorite holiday. Family, turkey at the long table. Riced potatoes with Cathy and Gary carving in the cottagey kitchen. Easy-going, Cindy was a great hostess and seemed to adore the day as much as we did.

Cindy’s last corporate executive position at Legg Mason had challenges with upheaval in the industry. When she retired, she took up personal investing. She saw it as her new job. Not only did she follow the markets, she participated in analyst conference calls, and did research daily. A profitable endeavor. Best of all, Cindy taught her son Ray a lot about finance and he seemed extremely interested. During a discussion we had at cousin Will’s new house, just after Ray graduated from High School, Cindy beamed as he regaled me with his knowledge.

After she sold her home in Katonah and moved up to the Adirondacks full time, she enjoyed going to her Adirondack League Club and continued personal investing. She was really happy that Ray had become a business major at her alma mater UMass Amherst.

Although she never revealed any political bent, she told me she was a loyal reader of The Side Trek, my blog. I really appreciated that and often told her so.

Cindy created and owned a highly successful financial business, was a corporate managing director and innovator of retail investment products, a leader in her industry segment. Her career was central in her life. That and being Ray’s mother. Somebody said she had a 1,000-watt smile. True. Her easy giggly laugh always broke through everything and filled the room. A mirth that seemed to come from her soul. She had a strong will and great courage. When she made up her mind there was no talking her out of it.

Still cannot comprehend this. Forever sorely missed, Cindy. My sis.

August 25, 1956 – January 18, 2019