Cynthia Wagner

Vero Beach, Fla. — Cynthia Beardsley Wagner, loving wife, mother and a retired librarian from West Hartford, who was also active in local politics, died on May 22 in Vero Beach, Fla. She was 93. Cindy loved books and began working in libraries while she was in high school. She attended North Central College, the University of Chicago, and earned an Associate Degree from Southern Connecticut State in 1965.

Born on May 11, 1924, in Wheaton, Ill., to Josephine and Harry Beardsley, her father was the editorial page editor of The Chicago Daily News, and her mother was a writer and editor.

Cindy moved to Connecticut after she married James H. Wagner on May 21, 1948. In West Hartford, she managed the successful political campaigns of two local Democratic candidates, and she ran for the state legislature herself in 1954. She served on the West Hartford Library Board and, with other volunteers, helped establish libraries in two elementary schools.

Cindy and her husband loved to sail on their sloop, CinJim. After they retired, they lived in Groton Long Point, where she was a captain of the fire police. After moving to Florida in 2004, Cindy served as president of the Fort Pierce Garden Club and her condominium association.

Besides her husband, she is survived by three children, James Jr., Gary and Deborah Jo Wagner; four grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two step great-grandchildren; and eight nieces and nephews. She will be sorely missed by her family and friends. She was predeceased by her sister, Barbara Mate, her brother, Harrison Beardsley, and her daughter, Ellen W. Kadden.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Indian River Estates Samaritan Fund or the VNA Home Health & Hospice of Vero Beach. Online condolences may be made at www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.