Cynthia-Jane Wayman died peacefully on July 18, 2025, in her home in Lambert’s Cove.
Cynthia was born in Newton in 1934, the daughter of Elsie and Robert Walsh. She was an only child, with an older half-sister. She met her future husband, David, at a young age in the local Christian Science Sunday school, as he was the brother of a friend.
She attended Rhode Island School of Design, majoring in illustration, and later married her childhood churchmate, David Wayman. David worked at the Christian Science Church in Boston as a computer analyst, and Cynthia was an art teacher at Chapel Hill School in Waltham.
Because she had often summered on Martha’s Vineyard with her family when she was young, she and David had always thought that the Vineyard would be a lovely place to build a home. In 1973, they settled on a property in Lambert’s Cove, West Tisbury. They continued to add on to the house over the years, so David would have a place to practice his music and Cynthia would have a studio to teach her growing art classes. In 1978, Holly, her only child, was born.
Over the years, Cynthia continued to teach classes at the Nathan Mayhew Seminars and private classes at her home. She was very proud that many of her students went on to be professional, well-known artists. She and a friend published a book of their cartoons about life on Martha’s Vineyard, “Summer People, Some Are Not,” in 1975.
She was actively involved in the Island’s Christian Science Society in Oak Bluffs. She loved her family, her friends, and her Island. She was predeceased by her husband, David. She will be missed by all.