Wessel, Cynthia Hope, Lake Park, North Carolina

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Cynthia Hope Wessel passed away March 29 in Lake Park, North Carolina. The youngest of four children, Cynthia was born on Nov. 30, 1939 to Ruth Smith and Arthur Brower of Locust. She moved to Manhattan as a young woman where Cynthia met her husband, Eugene Falkland-Falken and attended the New School for Social Research. For over a decade, she and her husband resided and raised their children in Colonia.

After divorcing, Cynthia purchased her family’s historic home in Locust, a residence that was built by her great-grandfather, Nehemiah Brower, a well-known contractor in Monmouth County. Cynthia used her artistic eye and attention to detail to lovingly restore the house and gardens before moving in the 1990s to Green Valley, Arizona with her husband, Sylvester Wessel. Before her death, she had spent a little over a year residing in an assisted living facility in Charlotte, North Carolina near family who live in the area.

Cynthia was a vibrant, energetic individual, a woman with many artistic talents. She crafted clay sculptures, sketched portraits, enjoyed entertaining and was also a talented seamstress, gardener, decorator and gourmet cook. In later years, she worked in various galleries featuring Native and Latin American art in Tubac, Arizona. Arizona plants and wildlife, the brilliant colors of southwestern art and the ever-changing hues of the Santa Rita mountains, which she could see from her home in Green Valley, brought her great solace and joy.

Cynthia was predeceased by her son, Thomas Falkland-Falken; her sister, Penelope Brennan; her husband, Sylvester Wessel; and her grandson, Jonathan Washburn. She is survived by her daughter, Liz Washburn; her grandson, James Washburn; her stepchildren, David Falken, Deborah Falken, Daniel Falken and William Wessel; her sister, Anneke Wood; and her brother, Jans Brower.

A memorial service in memory of Cynthia will be held Saturday, June 23 at 11:00 a.m. at All Saint’s Episcopal Church 202 Navesink Ave., Atlantic Highlands, with Cynthia’s son-in-law, the Reverend Dennis Washburn and the Reverend Debbie Cook officiating. Donations in memory of Cynthia may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org/goto/purlsoflight.