Cynthia Ann Walker

Cynthia Ann Walker passed away at home on Saturday morning April 12, 2025 while being cared for by her husband John Russell Batchelder and her son Garrison Alton Batchelder.

Cindy was diagnosed with borderline ovarian cancer in March 2005 and bravely fought ovarian cancer until her passing on April 12, 2025. Throughout her numerous surgeries and throughout her numerous rounds of chemotherapy treatments, Cindy remained strong and positive and never complained about being in pain or experiencing discomfort.

Cindy was born on June 25, 1958, in Aurora, Illinois to Warren Kenneth Walker and Alice Amelia Speck. Cindy moved with her parents and with her brothers David and Kevin and with her sister Diane to Burlingame, California in 1961, so that her father could continue his career at Furnas Electric. Cindy often spoke fondly of growing up across from Roosevelt School on Vancouver Avenue in Burlingame in the 1960s and 1970s.

Cindy considered herself a “Bay Area Girl” and enjoyed all that living in the San Francisco Bay Area could offer. She continued her life in the Bay Area at San Mateo Junior College and also at U C Berkeley, where she developed a strong interest in both textile conservation and in chemistry.

After graduating from U C Berkeley in 1982, Cindy started graduate school at U C Davis in textile science under the tutelage of Dr. Howard Needles. Dr. Needles and his family soon “adopted” Cindy and she became a regular guest at their annual Thanksgiving celebrations for the next fifteen years. After completing her MS degree at U C Davis, Cindy started a PhD program in Environmental Chemistry at U C Davis.

Cindy met her future husband John Russell Batchelder in early 1985 while John was also a graduate student who was working on his MBA in Real Estate and Finance. Cindy and John were married in December 1985, while they were both still in graduate school. Cindy and John welcomed their son Garrison into this world on May 24, 1989, exactly five days after Cindy submitted her PhD dissertation to her graduate adviser.

Cindy remained at home with Garrison for four years, before starting to work for the California Department of Food and Agriculture as a methods validation research chemist. While working as a research chemist, Cindy also became very interested in the newly emerging Internet technology and learned how to program web pages using HTML. After a couple of years working as a research chemist, Cindy decided to transition to developing computer applications for Internet and Intranet networks at the California Department of Transportation. Cindy continued working at Cal Trans until her retirement in 2018.

Throughout her adult life, Cindy was a passionate textile artist and studio artist. She took numerous studio art classes at U C Berkeley, while also taking a full regimen of chemistry classes. Cindy took time off from her studies at U C Berkeley to work at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco as a textile conservationist. One of her more proud accomplishments in textile arts was winning a national sock knitting competition in Knitting Magazine in the mid 1980s.

After exhausting all her treatment options for her ovarian cancer, Cindy entered hospice care in January 2025 under the care of the wonderful staff at Yolo Cares of Davis, CA. All of the administrative staff, the nursing staff, the spiritual counselors and social workers at Yolo Cares provided exemplary and compassionate care for Cindy in the final months of her life. Cindy was adamant about staying at home throughout the course of her illness and the staff at Yolo Cares did everything possible to help Cindy remain comfortable as she fought ovarian cancer to the very end.

She is pre-deceased by her brother, David Lee Walker, her sister Diane Lynn Walker, her mother Alice Amelia Speck, and her father, Warren Kenneth Walker. She is survived by her husband, John Russell Batchelder, her son, Garrison Alton Batchelder, her grandson, Liam Alton Batchelder, her brother and his wife, Kevin James Walker and Mary Ann Walker (née Toschi), several nieces, nephews, grand nieces, and grand nephews.

Final arrangements for a celebration of life for Cindy are pending.