Cindy Tims

Cindy Tims

Cindy Tims, 78, passed away on August 18, 2022 in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Born on April 26, 1944 in Seattle, WA, Cindy was the first-born child of William and Mary Kitts.

Growing up, Cindy attended Bryant Elementary, Eckstein Middle School, and graduated from Roosevelt High School. She enjoyed spending summers with her beloved grandmother, Gammy, at the family's farm in Birch Bay and their beachfront property in Anacortes.

Cindy briefly attended Washington State University in Pullman, WA where she met and married her first husband, Gary Speerstra. Together they served in the Peace Corps in India, moved to Michigan (where Cindy graduated from the University of Michigan), and in 1971, had a daughter, Gretchen. While Gretchen was still a baby, Cindy chose to venture off on her own and moved herself and her daughter back to the Northwest.

In 1975, she enrolled in the University of Puget Sound's Law School, where she met Steve Skelton – quickly realizing their connection began years before as children at the neighborhood bus stop. Upon graduation, in 1977, Steve and Cindy moved to Anacortes where they were quickly and simultaneously sworn in as attorneys and married in a single, simple ceremony. They began a law practice together, which they shared until 1995. Cindy retired in 2004.

Cindy and Steve enjoyed traveling extensively during their 45 years together, visiting China, Africa, and the Caribbean. In 1990, they discovered the town of Puerto Escondido on the coast of Oaxaca and would begin traveling there exclusively for increasing durations of time, eventually becoming permanent residents in 2015. They were part of a large community of dear friends there, enjoying weekly dinners, live music and dancing, volunteering at their neighborhood library, and offering generous support to local businesses, schools, artisans, and families. They were forced to say goodbye to Puerto in 2021 due to health issues.

Cindy was a voracious reader, a passionate art collector, an epicurean, and was a strong, lifelong advocate for women's rights, and those of the LGBTQIA and BIPOC communities, as well as many other social issues.

She is survived by her husband, Steve Skelton; her daughter, Gretchen Speerstra; her grandsons, Aidan Carlisle and Caleb Carlisle; her brother, Bruce (Cindy Jo) Kitts; nieces, Jill (Mike) Estes, Melissa Kitts; nephews, Jeff Kitts (Tyler Higgins) and Jamie Kitts; several great nieces and nephews; and a large clan of cousins from both her mother's and father's sides.

Share your memories of Cindy and sign the online guest register at www.lemleychapel.com.