Cynthia Bloodgood

1932 - 2025

Cynthia Bloodgood, 93, of Cincinnati, Ohio, died August 23, 2025, after a brief illness. Though she resided in Cincinnati at the time of her death, she spent most of her life in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she built a legacy of independence, adventure, and quiet defiance.

Born May 18, 1932, to Mildred Gibson Dorwart and Dr. Frederic Dorwart, Cynthia was also preceded in death by her sister, Carter Gibson Purcell (Borden Purcell), and sister-in-law Nanu Dorwart.

An avid cyclist, Cynthia was a longtime member of the Tulsa Bicycle Club and a regular rider in FreeWheel, the annual cross-state ride. She rode rain or shine. Though she eventually swapped her tent for hotel rooms, she didn't hang up her bicycle cleats until age 87. Even then, she continued walking and working out, a familiar figure at the gym where she made up for in enthusiasm what she lacked in grace.

Before her life became too full of embroidery, travel, wind surfing and other outdoor pursuits to accommodate a traditional job, Cynthia worked as a floor nurse at St. John's Hospital. She also taught nursing for many years, leaving a legacy in the students who went on to care for their own patients. Never one to enjoy a fuss, she retired without telling anyone, simply departing on a six-week coast-to-coast bicycle ride and never returning to work.

Cynthia raised four children and then embarked on a second act that included living in a log cabin, reading widely, traveling internationally, and rarely running her air conditioning in the Oklahoma summer. She once called her daughter to announce the purchase of a new car, omitting the reason for the upgrade: she had rolled her previous vehicle and been left hanging upside down by her seatbelt.

She is survived by her brother, Frederick Dorwart; daughters, Elspeth Bloodgood (Dana Pattillo) and Pam Bloodgood; her sons, James Bloodgood (Lori) and Francis "Paddo" Bloodgood (JoAnne Martin); her occasionally bewildered grandchildren, Ariel Weaver (Chris Deatrick), Leila Williams (Dallas), Emma Bloodgood, and Jack Bloodgood; and great-grandchildren Eden and Oliver as well as various nieces and nephews, great and otherwise.

Cynthia Bloodgood lived exactly as she pleased. She will be remembered for her wit, her grit, and her refusal to be ordinary. In lieu of flowers, take a walk outside in her memory.