Cynthia “Cindy” Pepper lived a glorious life filled with passion, curiosity, and blazing optimism, passing away peacefully on June 21, 2024, surrounded by her family and friends. Cynthia devoted her life to family and creative pursuits.

Cynthia was born to Maggie Weiss and Sanford Pepper, the owner of a 4th generation scrap yard in Salt Lake City. Influenced by her mother’s family legacy of Fantasy Records and the Blackhawk Nightclub, she chose a career in the arts.

Cynthia started off her performance career as a child dancer with Virginia Tanner’s Children’s Dance Theatre at the University of Utah prior to the age of three. She performed around the world with Virginia and at the age of eight danced at the White House for Richard Nixon.

After graduating with a BFA from California Institute of the Arts in Dance, Cynthia performed at the 1984 Los Angeles Winter Olympics with Bella Lewitsky Company. Shortly after, Cynthia visited Marin County, and became intoxicated by its beauty; she decided to relocate, spending many years teaching at Marin Ballet, and choreographing and producing dance-related events and dance films. In 1990, Cynthia married Val Hornstein, a softball-playing nice Jewish lawyer. Cynthia graduated with an MA in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University, and continued to produce dance, film and art projects. Through SFSU, she created three outreach dance programs to bring live musicians into the public and private school sectors throughout the Bay Area, taking charge of educating thousands of children in over thirty world dance forms. Cynthia is proud to have created 14 original short dance films for TV, internet and the film festival circuit. Alongside her producing partner, Melinda Darlington-Bach, she produced Emmy award-winning fashion shows, performances, and most notably, short films for Disney, Nickelodeon, and Sesame Street. Cynthia spent much of the last decade presenting oil, acrylic, and collage multi-media paintings in gallery showings, and her artwork graces many homes.

Despite her love for the arts, Cynthia made her family her top priority, and is proud to have raised two beautiful daughters. Cynthia is survived by her husband of 34 years, Val Dawson Hornstein, her daughters Olivia “Sunbeam” Dora Hornstein and Rose “Rosebud” Sarah Hornstein, her siblings Lisa (Brad) Pepper-Satkin and Mark (Margaret) Pepper, and her mother J. Maggie Weiss. 

Any donations to honor Cynthia’s life would be much appreciated. Donations can be sent to Congregation Rodef Sholom and UCSF.

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