1948
Mary
2020
Mary Cynara Stites
January 12, 1948 — March 26, 2020
Mary Stites Obituary
Cynara Stites, 72, died in her home on Thursday, March 26. She lived in Storrs, CT, for 40 years and was an outspoken advocate of liberal causes.
She was born in Richmond Heights, MO, and grew up in Falls Church, VA. In high school she served as an assistant to a US Congressman at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from William & Mary and earned an MSW from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Higher Education Administration from UConn with a dissertation on faculty-student consensual relationships. Her expertise on the topic was sought after, particularly in the #MeToo era, and she advised the University of Connecticut on a policy that was adopted.
She worked at Yale New Haven Hospital’s clinical psychology department and at UConn as a clinical social worker for 30 years. She was a dedicated and skilled therapist who cared immensely about her clients. She founded and led one of the first support groups for gay university students, the Gay Straight Rap, and supported members and patients through the AIDS epidemic. She held a number of positions at UCPEA and was an active member of the Rainbow Center and the UCONN Women's Center.
Cynara had deep roots in the Storrs-Mansfield community. She participated in the Mansfield 2020 Vision project in 2008, assisted the Mansfield Democratic Council in many activities, was active in the Mansfield Historical Society, and served for several years as newsletter editor for the Mansfield Senior Center Association. She took an active role in the administrative and social life of her retirement community, Glen Ridge Co-op, where she curated movie nights. She regularly played pickleball at the Mansfield Community Center and Scrabble at the Mansfield Senior Center.
She was a lifelong crusader for the just and the sensible. She penned the legendary poem “UConn Never Closes” about UConn’s reluctance to declare snow days in the 80s and 90s. Dozens of her letters to the editor on social and community issues were published in the Hartford Courant and Willimantic Chronicle. She was a Board member of the ACLU of Connecticut and worked with them starting in the 1980s to advocate protection of constitutional and civil rights. In 2018 she testified to the state legislature’s Public Health Committee in support of an aid-in-dying bill, “An Act Concerning End of Life Care.” She participated in many successful local campaigns, including the 2006 election of U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, the 2014 Mansfield town referendum to build a sewer system at Four Corners and the 2019 Mansfield school bond referendum to build a net-zero-carbon elementary school. Most recently, she successfully petitioned the Connecticut Department of Transportation to build a stoplight at the corner of Separatist and South Eagleville Rd., scheduled for 2023.
Cynara is survived by her daughter, Jessica Stites; sister, Caroline Stites; brother, Stephen Stites; and mother, Rebecca Stites.
To honor her memory, please send gifts in her name to the ACLU of Connecticut and join the ACLU in her honor.
A Celebration of Life Service will take place on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at 2:00PM at the Storrs Congregational Church, 2 N Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT.
To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Mary Cynara Stites, please visit our Tree Store.
Read More
Cynara Stites, 72, died in her home on Thursday, March 26. She lived in Storrs, CT, for 40 years and was an outspoken advocate of liberal causes.
She was born in Richmond Heights, MO, and grew up in Falls Church, VA. In high school she served as an assistant to a US Congressman at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from William & Mary and earned an MSW from the University of Wisconsin and a PhD in Higher Education Administration from UConn with a dissertation on faculty-student consensual relationships. Her expertise on the topic was sought after, particularly in the #MeToo era, and she advised the University of Connecticut on a policy that was adopted.
She worked at Yale New Haven Hospital’s clinical psychology department and at UConn as a clinical social worker for 30 years. She was a dedicated and skilled therapist who cared immensely about her clients. She founded and led one of the first support groups for gay university students, the Gay Straight Rap, and supported members and patients through the AIDS epidemic. She held a number of positions at UCPEA and was an active member of the Rainbow Center and the UCONN Women's Center.
Cynara had deep roots in the Storrs-Mansfield community. She participated in the Mansfield 2020 Vision project in 2008, assisted the Mansfield Democratic Council in many activities, was active in the Mansfield Historical Society, and served for several years as newsletter editor for the Mansfield Senior Center Association. She took an active role in the administrative and social life of her retirement community, Glen Ridge Co-op, where she curated movie nights. She regularly played pickleball at the Mansfield Community Center and Scrabble at the Mansfield Senior Center.
She was a lifelong crusader for the just and the sensible. She penned the legendary poem “UConn Never Closes” about UConn’s reluctance to declare snow days in the 80s and 90s. Dozens of her letters to the editor on social and community issues were published in the Hartford Courant and Willimantic Chronicle. She was a Board member of the ACLU of Connecticut and worked with them starting in the 1980s to advocate protection of constitutional and civil rights. In 2018 she testified to the state legislature’s Public Health Committee in support of an aid-in-dying bill, “An Act Concerning End of Life Care.” She participated in many successful local campaigns, including the 2006 election of U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, the 2014 Mansfield town referendum to build a sewer system at Four Corners and the 2019 Mansfield school bond referendum to build a net-zero-carbon elementary school. Most recently, she successfully petitioned the Connecticut Department of Transportation to build a stoplight at the corner of Separatist and South Eagleville Rd., scheduled for 2023.
Cynara is survived by her daughter, Jessica Stites; sister, Caroline Stites; brother, Stephen Stites; and mother, Rebecca Stites.
To honor her memory, please send gifts in her name to the ACLU of Connecticut and join the ACLU in her honor.
A Celebration of Life Service will take place on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at 2:00PM at the Storrs Congregational Church, 2 N Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT.
To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Mary Cynara Stites, please visit our Tree Store.
Read More
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mary Cynara Stites, please visit our flower store.
Guestbook
Visits: 0
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors