Cynthia was born in Newton Center, Massachusetts where she spent her childhood before attending and graduating from Mt. Holyoke College in 1949. Two years later, she boarded a train bound for San Francisco. Richard Lee McGraw, on leave from naval service during the Korean war, saw her across a USO dance floor. After eight days of courtship, Cynthia and Dick pledged their lives to each other. Wed in September 1953, Dick's quest for a legal career took them from law school in Austin, then to California, finally settling at Fulbright and Jaworski in Houston. Cynthia was active as a volunteer for numerous local and national organizations including, Taping for the Blind where her eloquent voice narrated many books, the 7 C's Treasure Mart, the Houston Garden Club and The Museum of Fine Arts Houston. What was most important was her involvement with her daughter's activities. She worked at several employment agencies during the many glory years of Houston's oil boom. Cynthia relaxed by working in her yard in Meyerland or mowing countless acres atop her favorite tractor on her father-in-law, E. Clyde McGraw's, farm in Brenham. After the death of her husband in 1970, Cynthia and her teenaged girls forged a special bond that lasted through the years. She was their strength, their guide and their best friend. Cynthia's intellect and humor will be sorely missed. She is survived by her daughters Leslie McGraw Davis and Susan McGraw Schawe; sons-in-law; Brad Davis and Phil Schawe; and grandchildren Thad and Dylan Davis, Skyler, Hannah and Ella Schawe, who all knew her as "Cylvia". She is also survived by her brother, William Breed and his wife Sue, of Medfield, Massachusetts. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard Lee McGraw.