Cynthia Ann Stoltze Hardison died September 9, 2020, in Raleigh, NC. She was born a U.S. citizen in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, on February 9, 1928, to Norris Sanborn Stoltze and Frances Virtue Stoltze. Her father opened lumber yards following the route of The Great Northern Railroad opening the northern plains to settlement, and her mother was a nurse.
From her early days of joining in on a morning ride of a cattle drive, to spending time with her cousins on the McIntyre Ranch in nearby Magrath, Alberta, Cynthia developed a healthy respect for the West, which evolved into her love of John Wayne movies. She loved the outdoors and the wildlife that inhabits it.
Cynthia’s hobbies were many. She was an accomplished water-color artist and needle-pointer, and she was a chocolate connoisseur. But her favorite hobby was playing her accordion. She learned to play the accordion as a child, and she loved to play it when friends and guests visited.
She attended primary school in Lethbridge and graduated high school from The Summit Academy in St. Paul, MN. She attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA and then transferred to Stanford University from which, she graduated cum laude.
After Stanford, she attended Northwestern University's Medical School from which, she graduated AOA (national medical honor society). Following an internship at Northwestern, she completed a fellowship in internal medicine, specializing in hematology and oncology, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. While at Mayo, she also received a MS degree from the University of Minnesota winning the Judson Daland Award for Excellence in Clinical Medicine. During this time, she became interested in Sjogren’s Syndrome and published extensively on that disease.
Upon completing her fellowship, Cynthia joined the Mayo Clinic as a consultant in the Section of Hematology, where she was the first female to be added to Mayo's clinical staff as a consultant.
She married Dr. Joseph H. Hardison, Jr. in 1961, and they moved to Raleigh in 1964. Together, they founded Raleigh Internal Medicine Associates, where she specialized in hematology and oncology until 1989, when she retired. During her career, she served as a hematology consultant to the Journal of the American Medical Association, President of the American College of Gastroenterology Women's Auxiliary, as a board member of the local National Muscular Sclerosis Society chapter, and as a board member of the N.C. Symphony Foundation.
Her greatest joys in life were her faith in God, her family, practicing medicine, and her many friends. She read voraciously and derived great pleasure from her memberships in the Olla Podrida Book Club and the Monday Luncheon and Literary Society. She also enjoyed her membership in the St. Christopher's Club.
Cynthia was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother and will be missed greatly by all.
She was predeceased by her husband, Joseph H. Hardison, Jr., her parents, and her two brothers, Frank V. Stoltze and William N. Stoltze. She is survived by her three children, Joseph H. Hardison, III and wife De, Sanborn Stoltze Hardison, Anna Katherine Hardison, and by two grandchildren, Taylor Ann Hardison and Joseph H. Hardison, IV.
A private burial service will be held at the Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to White Memorial Church or to Hospice of Wake County.
Arrangements by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street.
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