Cynthia (Babers) Stafford

On Saturday, July 23, 2022, Cynthia Stafford, loving wife and mother, passed away at the age of 76. Cynthia was born on July 15, 1946 in Gainesville, FL to Henry and Louisa (Toms) Babers. She graduated with a BSN from the University of Florida, then earned her Master’s degree in special education. She taught deaf and hard of hearing children in preschool and elementary school for many years.

Cynthia went on to earn her Ed.D. degree from Ball State University in 1984. She married her husband, Steve Stafford, on October 24, 1992. Cynthia had two children, Andrea and Dennis, from a previous marriage.

Cynthia had a passion for helping others. She and Steve started the HDB Service Group in 2002 as a way to help members of their community who needed access to transportation and to provide resources for those who needed help getting affordable medications.

More recently, Cynthia worked with the Carmel Friends Church food ministry, helping to provide much needed resources to people facing food insecurity. Cynthia also initiated a prayer card ministry for her church. She sought ways to help refugees and participated in gathering and distributing food and goods to people impacted by the war in Ukraine.

Anyone who knew Cynthia knew how quick she was to strike up a conversation and find points of connection to others. She combined this with a ready wit and gentle, silly humor.

She had a genuine love for people and dedicated herself to writing two books in the last years of her life. The first, Through the Gate: Starting a Journey with Stage 4 Cancer , was designed to help people navigate this part of their lives. Her second book, Three Trillion Drops of Water: Vietnam, A Hero, and Home , was the story she spent her whole life composing.

Cynthia was preceded in death by her mother, Louisa; her father, Henry; and her beloved brother, 1LT Dennis Babers, USMC.

She is survived by her husband, Steve Stafford; her children, Andrea Brown (Dannon) and Dennis Feaster (Sarah); and her grandchildren, Christiaan, Jack, Carlo, Tyler, Emily, Benjamin, and Piper.

A funeral service will be held at 12:30pm on Saturday, August 13, 2022 at Carmel Friends Church, 651 W Main St, Carmel, IN 46032. Please send flowers to the Carmel Friends’ Church or donations to the Carmel Friends’ Food Pantry ( https://www.carmelfriends.org/page/donate ).