Cecily Lyons

Lyons, Cecily Marion

78, passed away on August 12, 2025, in St. Petersburg, Florida - the city she always called home.

Born in Coral Gables in 1947, Cecily was one of eight siblings. While growing up, she became friends with her future husband, Michael Day. Together, they built backyard forts and waged playful "avocado wars." At 16, she boarded a bus to St. Louis to join Mike, who was then in college training to become a pilot. They married and welcomed their first daughter, Janice Cecilia. Inspired by Mike, Cecily learned to fly - sparking a lifelong passion for aviation. The family later moved to New Jersey, where daughters Christy Ann and Angela Michelle were born. Cecily and Mike opened a flight school, which Cecily managed while Mike flew commercially.

In 1979, the family moved to St. Petersburg. After her divorce from Mike in 1981, Cecily forged a path as one of the first female flight instructors in the country. During this time, she met and married Bill Jennings. Bill taught her to love line dancing, family dinners, and scallop hunting. He encouraged her to open Cecily's Flight Center, and together they grew it with laughter, sweat, and tears from a single plane to a fleet of more than a dozen aircraft, employing a team of seven instructors. After years of successfully running the business, she sold it and retired to a campground in Tennessee - a brief pause from the skies.

But the sky was never far from her heart. Cecily returned to St. Petersburg in 2000 and resumed flying, this time as a corporate pilot for an architecture firm. From Cessna 150s to Cessna Citations, there wasn't much Cecily couldn't fly. The family often joked that if she could get a car going fast enough, she could fly that, too.

Eventually, Cecily moved to Atlanta to be near her daughter, Janice, and her two young grandchildren. She helped raise them while also teaching aviation students at Georgia Tech. In 2020, she returned once again to St. Petersburg, settling into her beloved Pink Streets neighborhood, where she lived close to her youngest daughter, Angie.

Cecily leaves behind a legacy of resilience, adventure, and boundless love. She is survived by her daughters, Janice Darling, Christy Day, and Angie Jennings; her four adored grandchildren, Eiza Gibbs, Amelia Darling, Marlow Darling, and Scarlet Gibbs; and her chosen son, Simon Powell.

She will be remembered as a trailblazer, a spitfire, and a mother whose love knew no limits.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 4 pm on Sunday, August 31, at Caddy's Waterfront Restaurant, 9000 W. Gulf Blvd, Treasure Island, FL 33706. Please wear your brightest colors and bring your favorite Cecily stories.

View Guest Book www.tampabay.com/obits