Cynthia Rice McCrae passed away on February 18, 2024 surrounded by her family, after suffering a debilitating stroke one week earlier. Cynthia was 97 years old.

Cynthia was born in Durban, South Africa, the second child of Norman Lincoln Rice and Eunice Phelps Rice, missionaries with the Congregational Church. When Cynthia was 8 years old the family moved to the U.S and lived in Connecticut, Oklahoma, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Washington state as Cynthia, her brother and her two sisters were growing up. Music was a big part of her life as a youngster and throughout her life; Cynthia played flute and piano and loved singing, especially finding a harmony part.

Cynthia graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and completed graduate courses at Chicago Theological Seminary. In Chicago, she met her lifelong love and partner in a University of Chicago Divinity School student, Ian McCrae, whom she married in June 1950. The couple lived in Los Angeles and Des Moines, Iowa, before moving to Indianapolis in 1963. During these years Cynthia and Ian’s five children were born, and Cynthia dedicated herself to full-time parenting, being a minister’s wife, and multiple volunteer roles with church, school, and Cub Scouts, among others.

Cynthia was one of the founders of the Downey Avenue Cooperative Preschool in the Irvington neighborhood of Indianapolis in 1965. After one year as a “co-op parent,” she became the teacher, a role she held for more than two decades. Hundreds of three- and four-year-olds and their parents received the benefit of her unconditional love and gentle nudging toward learning how to share, to be open and curious, and to accept others as they are.

Among their many contributions as members of Downey Avenue Christian Church, Ian and Cynthia started an Explorers Class for young adults. Ian was the teacher and Cynthia was the connector, listener, and social director. Many of the leaders of the congregation in subsequent years passed through their care.

Over the years Cynthia and Ian opened their home to many people including exchange students, foreign visitors, friends of their children, and anyone who needed a place to stay. Their home was a place of welcome and acceptance.

As they approached retirement, Cynthia and Ian’s commitment to community led them to join with friends they met at seminary in Chicago in the late 1940s, Dale and Betty Miller and Walter and Myra Abel. The six friends moved to a senior living community in Raymore, Missouri where they enjoyed each other’s company and also made new friends and connections. One of the joys of their lives at this point was St. Andrew Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas, a community they adored and where they in turn were adored.

Cynthia returned to Indianapolis in September of 2020 and lived her last years at Robin Run Village. She reveled in being close to the majority of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and in making new connections at Robin Run and at Central Christian Church, where she loved the music and the people. She was a person filled with gratitude, whose love, deep caring, and joy for life were felt by her extended family, many friends and countless others whose lives she touched. She will be missed tremendously, but her love will endure in all who knew her.

In keeping with her lifelong attitude of service, Cynthia donated her body to the Anatomical Education Program at Indiana University School of Medicine. This gift will contribute to the advancement of health science education in the state of Indiana.

Cynthia was preceded in death by her husband Ian; her parents Norman and Eunice; her brother Lincoln; and her sisters Helen and Julia.

Cynthia is survived by her children Bruce (Betsy Headrick) McCrae, Doug McCrae (Sue Meachem), Carol McCrae (Tim Zilke), Linda McCrae (Beverly Knight); and Maureen McCrae (Lloyd Wright); nine grandchildren Rita, Ellen, Carl, Kiah, Caleb, Mark, Peter, Kate, and Isaac; 13 great-grandchildren; many dear friends; and hundreds of former pre-school students.

A memorial service in celebration of Cynthia’s full and remarkable life will be held on Sunday, February 25 at 2:00pm at Central Christian Church, 701 N. Delaware in Indianapolis. The service will be livestreamed at https://www.youtube.com/watch…. Donations in Cynthia’s memory may be made to her home congregation, Central Christian Church, at the previous address, or the Robin Run Village Heritage Fund (a fund supporting residents whose financial resources have been depleted), 5354 W. 62nd St., Indianapolis, IN 46268.

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