Cynthia M. Powers

Cynthia M. Powers (nee Wydajewski) age 79 of Crete, Illinois, passed away peacefully at home on October 19, 2025, after bravely fighting ovarian cancer.

Cynthia was born in Chicago on May 29, 1946, to Gus and Helen (nee Raczkowski) Wydajewski, the youngest of three girls. She cherished her late sisters Nancy (Gerald) Seida and Connie (Harvey) Mazur. After high school, Cynthia worked for the Illinois Central Railroad (the IC) and it was there she met Tom. They married in 1968 and soon after started a family of their own. Despite their best efforts to have a boy, they were blessed with five daughters: Jill (Lee) Murr, Lori Powers, Janet (Rick) Cox, Tracy (Tim) Sarver, and Susan (Tim) Maslanka.

After working at the IC, Tom became a General Contractor, and they built their home in Crete. Little did they know the home they were building would be filled with so much love and happiness over the years, with good times together, and strong in tradition.

Cynthia embraced the role of Homemaker. Managing five girls was no small feat and she was often mistaken for a chauffeur or unpaid taxi driver. She never let her daughters miss a single activity: band, choir, softball, tennis, gymnastics – you name it, she was always there, cheering them on with unwavering love and support.

Cindy served as a classroom volunteer for all of her girls throughout elementary school. She was a Sunday School teacher at St. Liborius Catholic Church for over a decade. At home, few things made Cindy happier than family meals together and her flower gardens. Her dahlias and hydrangeas are the envy of many and she particularly loved yellow flowers. Cindy showed her love through her cooking. She could cure the common cold with her chicken soup, make the most perfect pancakes you’ve ever seen, and everyone who had the honor of tasting her chocolate chip cookies knows they’ll never have better. Her recipes will live on through the kitchens of her friends and family.

While Cindy loved being a mom, she said that nothing beat being a grandma to her 13 grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren. The thing about Cindy is that she never favored one person over another – everyone was loved equally, and she made each of them feel special in their own way. She made every single person she knew or just met feel special. She had a knack for that.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Hospice of the Calumet Area are appreciated. The service in remembrance of Cynthia will begin with a visitation at 10:00 a.m. on November 10, 2025, where friends can visit with family prior to a funeral mass at 11:00 a.m. at St. Liborius Catholic Church, 71 W. 35th Street, Steger, IL 60475. NO FLOWERS PLEASE.

Arrangements entrusted to Crete Funeral Home, 1182 Main Street, Crete, Illinois. Information: (708) 672-7600.