Cynthia Craig Olds Greeley, born July 28,1956, New York City, passed away October 14 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, surrounded by family and friends.
Her late parents were Mary Elizabeth (Fagg) Olds, journalist and writer, and Lawrence B. Olds, artist and editor at the Department of Education.
Cynthia is survived by her husband, Benjamin B. Greeley, son, Benjamin Craig Estes Olds Greeley, and daughter, MaryElizabeth Gillespie Rouse Olds Greeley. Her other survivors are cousins Helen Howard Hebben (George), Joel Howard (Teri), David Howard (Robin), and Lisa Maedgen White.
Cynthia was born in Manhattan. She inherited a love for reading and a facility for writing from her father, a former industry publicist, trade magazine publisher, and graphic artist; and her mother, journalist and author of Women of the Four Winds.
She encountered the Presbyterian Church at age four, when her parents enrolled her in the Madison Ave Presbyterian Church Preschool and Sunday school in Manhattan. She enjoyed the usual pastimes of young ladies of the Upper East Side in the '60's - bike riding, ballroom dancing, haunting the museums, and skating in Central Park. During the 1965 blackout Cynthia followed in the footsteps of the fictional Eloise, and used her flashlight to help elderly ladies navigate the dark streets. She was always happy to help others, friends or strangers, regardless of race or condition.
Cynthia's social and hostess skills were honed at the Spence School for Girls. When her father was transferred to Washington, DC, Cynthia brought her Manhattan sophistication to the National Cathedral School for Girls and embraced the School wholeheartedly.
Music, the arts, and volunteering for good were important parts of her life. She was active in Glee Club and musicals, as well as summer stock theatre, the Madrigal Chorale, and tower bell ringing at the Cathedral. She earned a varsity letter for modern dance, and served on the school newspaper, the Punning team (not a typo), the Vestry committee, and many other activities.
When she was 14 she committed her life to God on a church trip. This commitment was a consistent influence over the rest of her life. As an adult, she was inspired by the sermons of Dr. Somerville at the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, and has been a member since.
Before entering the University of Pennsylvania, Cynthia attended a summer archeology field camp in Front Royal, Virginia, and worked at an excavation site. Her father's cancer diagnosis heavily influenced her studies at Penn, where she focused on Medical Anthropology. Between semesters, she helped research her mother's chronicle of women explorers, "Women of the Four Winds". She pledged the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and was active in the Christian Association.
As a research assistant, Cynthia investigated alternatives to nursing home placements for senior citizens. At a primate research center, she cared for and trained juvenile chimpanzees at a center surrounded by Amish farms. One of her fondest memories was seeing the eldest female primate being taken for her daily walk, while the farm kids watched carefully.
After a chimp nearly bit off her finger, Cynthia changed plans and began work for the Defense Supply Center in South Philadelphia. She helped the DSC supply everything from parachutes to iceberg lettuce around the world.
From college onward, Cynthia was a dedicated member of the Junior League of Philadelphia, the women's charitable organization. She joined young members groups of other cultural organizations and served as a docent at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Cynthia's politics tended to the GOP, with the emphasis on party. Newsweek interviewed her at a rally (she insisted that she was misquoted), when she held up a "Republicans for Choice" sign.
Early in her career, she was offered a full scholarship for an MBA in Health Administration at Temple University. Her degree finished, she spent several months in Europe, stopping in Malta to help the British Consul craft a business plan that would aid Malta's rapprochement with the West.
Back in the states, she worked for a small consulting firm helping to bring more cancer treatment centers to underserved areas. A fascinating five years of regulatory advocacy followed at the Delaware Valley Hospital Council. She documented uncompensated care, as well as the critical shortage of nursing home beds. She also sat on a citywide council which addressed the AIDS epidemic and worked on an initiative to improve healthcare access for Latina women.
This fulfilling period was marked by a re-encounter with Ben Greeley, an alumnus of St. Albans School, brother school to NCS. On their first official date, Ben assisted at a Junior League clothing drive that Cynthia organized. Their 34-year marriage began with a wedding at the National Cathedral in Washington.
Benjamin arrived in 1997 and MaryElizabeth in 2000. Cynthia made a full-time commitment to attachment parenting, which she felt was the most important achievement of the rest of
her life.
The family was a busy one. They enjoyed the orchestra, opera, ballet, theatre, art galleries, museums, and, of course, church. They loved sailing, kayaking, swimming, hiking, and snowshoeing at their resort home in Ocean Pines, MD, and near their summer home in Austerlitz, NY.
Dancing was another of Cynthia's passions. She had ballroom dancing lessons during her Manhattan childhood. As a single woman in Philadelphia, she would enjoy dances almost every weekend. In the Berkshires she and Ben discovered contra dancing, a tradition enthusiastically continued by their daughter, MaryElizabeth.
A diagnosis of stage IV colorectal cancer in 2021 spurred her passion for advocacy for herself and others. She would ask almost every medical profession she met if she might help them promote better treatments, publish an article, palliate the suffering of others, or publicize Penn Medicine. She was determined to survive, despite the quality-of-life issues that came with ostomy care. Cynthia also detailed her cancer journey on the CaringBridge blog.
She was able to attend her 50th NCS reunion, where she received the "Courage Award," as well as MaryElizabeth's commencement at Penn, Benjamin's at Cornell, and MaryElizabeth's debut at the Philadelphia Charity Ball.
In addition to chemo and radiation at Penn's Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, Cynthia pursued palliative treatments at the Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. She also traveled with her family to the ICCA Global Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, for advanced stem cell treatments injected directly into the tumors. She passed October 14, 2025, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, surrounded by family and friends.
Cynthia remained determined. "Asking questions and advocating can literally preserve one's life," she said. "If anything I have shared helps one person to navigate the health care system or advocate for themselves...that will validate all the nonsense that I have been through."
Her late parents were Mary Elizabeth (Fagg) Olds, journalist and writer, and Lawrence B. Olds, artist and editor at the Department of Education.
Cynthia is survived by her husband, Benjamin B. Greeley, son, Benjamin Craig Estes Olds Greeley, and daughter, MaryElizabeth Gillespie Rouse Olds Greeley. Her other survivors are cousins Helen Howard Hebben (George), Joel Howard (Teri), David Howard (Robin), and Lisa Maedgen White.
Cynthia was born in Manhattan. She inherited a love for reading and a facility for writing from her father, a former industry publicist, trade magazine publisher, and graphic artist; and her mother, journalist and author of Women of the Four Winds.
She encountered the Presbyterian Church at age four, when her parents enrolled her in the Madison Ave Presbyterian Church Preschool and Sunday school in Manhattan. She enjoyed the usual pastimes of young ladies of the Upper East Side in the '60's - bike riding, ballroom dancing, haunting the museums, and skating in Central Park. During the 1965 blackout Cynthia followed in the footsteps of the fictional Eloise, and used her flashlight to help elderly ladies navigate the dark streets. She was always happy to help others, friends or strangers, regardless of race or condition.
Cynthia's social and hostess skills were honed at the Spence School for Girls. When her father was transferred to Washington, DC, Cynthia brought her Manhattan sophistication to the National Cathedral School for Girls and embraced the School wholeheartedly.
Music, the arts, and volunteering for good were important parts of her life. She was active in Glee Club and musicals, as well as summer stock theatre, the Madrigal Chorale, and tower bell ringing at the Cathedral. She earned a varsity letter for modern dance, and served on the school newspaper, the Punning team (not a typo), the Vestry committee, and many other activities.
When she was 14 she committed her life to God on a church trip. This commitment was a consistent influence over the rest of her life. As an adult, she was inspired by the sermons of Dr. Somerville at the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, and has been a member since.
Before entering the University of Pennsylvania, Cynthia attended a summer archeology field camp in Front Royal, Virginia, and worked at an excavation site. Her father's cancer diagnosis heavily influenced her studies at Penn, where she focused on Medical Anthropology. Between semesters, she helped research her mother's chronicle of women explorers, "Women of the Four Winds". She pledged the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma and was active in the Christian Association.
As a research assistant, Cynthia investigated alternatives to nursing home placements for senior citizens. At a primate research center, she cared for and trained juvenile chimpanzees at a center surrounded by Amish farms. One of her fondest memories was seeing the eldest female primate being taken for her daily walk, while the farm kids watched carefully.
After a chimp nearly bit off her finger, Cynthia changed plans and began work for the Defense Supply Center in South Philadelphia. She helped the DSC supply everything from parachutes to iceberg lettuce around the world.
From college onward, Cynthia was a dedicated member of the Junior League of Philadelphia, the women's charitable organization. She joined young members groups of other cultural organizations and served as a docent at the Academy of Natural Sciences.
Cynthia's politics tended to the GOP, with the emphasis on party. Newsweek interviewed her at a rally (she insisted that she was misquoted), when she held up a "Republicans for Choice" sign.
Early in her career, she was offered a full scholarship for an MBA in Health Administration at Temple University. Her degree finished, she spent several months in Europe, stopping in Malta to help the British Consul craft a business plan that would aid Malta's rapprochement with the West.
Back in the states, she worked for a small consulting firm helping to bring more cancer treatment centers to underserved areas. A fascinating five years of regulatory advocacy followed at the Delaware Valley Hospital Council. She documented uncompensated care, as well as the critical shortage of nursing home beds. She also sat on a citywide council which addressed the AIDS epidemic and worked on an initiative to improve healthcare access for Latina women.
This fulfilling period was marked by a re-encounter with Ben Greeley, an alumnus of St. Albans School, brother school to NCS. On their first official date, Ben assisted at a Junior League clothing drive that Cynthia organized. Their 34-year marriage began with a wedding at the National Cathedral in Washington.
Benjamin arrived in 1997 and MaryElizabeth in 2000. Cynthia made a full-time commitment to attachment parenting, which she felt was the most important achievement of the rest of
her life.
The family was a busy one. They enjoyed the orchestra, opera, ballet, theatre, art galleries, museums, and, of course, church. They loved sailing, kayaking, swimming, hiking, and snowshoeing at their resort home in Ocean Pines, MD, and near their summer home in Austerlitz, NY.
Dancing was another of Cynthia's passions. She had ballroom dancing lessons during her Manhattan childhood. As a single woman in Philadelphia, she would enjoy dances almost every weekend. In the Berkshires she and Ben discovered contra dancing, a tradition enthusiastically continued by their daughter, MaryElizabeth.
A diagnosis of stage IV colorectal cancer in 2021 spurred her passion for advocacy for herself and others. She would ask almost every medical profession she met if she might help them promote better treatments, publish an article, palliate the suffering of others, or publicize Penn Medicine. She was determined to survive, despite the quality-of-life issues that came with ostomy care. Cynthia also detailed her cancer journey on the CaringBridge blog.
She was able to attend her 50th NCS reunion, where she received the "Courage Award," as well as MaryElizabeth's commencement at Penn, Benjamin's at Cornell, and MaryElizabeth's debut at the Philadelphia Charity Ball.
In addition to chemo and radiation at Penn's Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, Cynthia pursued palliative treatments at the Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. She also traveled with her family to the ICCA Global Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico, for advanced stem cell treatments injected directly into the tumors. She passed October 14, 2025, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, surrounded by family and friends.
Cynthia remained determined. "Asking questions and advocating can literally preserve one's life," she said. "If anything I have shared helps one person to navigate the health care system or advocate for themselves...that will validate all the nonsense that I have been through."
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Cynthia Craig Olds, please visit our flower store.
Cynthia Craig Olds's Guestbook
Visits: 39
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors