VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Cynthia MacAlman McCausland, 99, died at home in Virginia Beach on Dec. 5, 2023, surrounded by her family. She was born in Rockland on Jan. 12, 1924, and graduated from R.W. Traip Academy in Kittery, in 1942. She married schoolmate Robert Reynolds McCausland in 1944. For many years she worked as a civil service clerk typist, retiring as an IRS auditor in 1976.

Cynthia was an avid researcher of her families’ genealogy, an interest which led her and her husband to transcribe the daily diary of 18th century Maine midwife, Martha Ballard. Their transcription, “The Diary of Martha Ballard: 1785-1812,” which included an every name and subject index, was published in 1992. This fulfilled the 1932 request made by Ballard’s great-great-granddaughter, Dr. Mary Hobart, when she donated the diary to the Maine State Library – that it be typed and published. Cynthia published additional genealogical books that completely indexed the names mentioned in published histories of some Maine counties and towns.

Her many other interests included music, history, reading, book collecting, gardening, wildlife, traveling, and square dancing.

Cynthia was famously known to be a great listener. Empathetic and non-judgemental, she always had time to listen to people; they just opened up to her. She was a life-long learner. Always curious about the world around her, she and her husband instilled that curiosity in their three sons.

Cynthia was also known for her frequent bouts of unbridled laughter, lengthy passages lasting long beyond any initiating humor. When asked once if she knew why she was laughing, she managed to say, between breaths, “No, I only know it’s better to be happy than sad.”

Cynthia was an ebullient lover of life. In her last few years she enjoyed playing games with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren in her sun room looking out onto a city park, thrilling to the ducklings that came up to feed in the spring, and all the wildlife that gathered here through the years.

She was the last surviving child of Harrison Pease MacAlman and Marguerite Therese Gregory MacAlman Hull, preceded in death by her brother Stuart Emerson MacAlman; her mother and father, her stepfather, William Thomas Hull; her husband; and a granddaughter (Kirsten Aine).

She is survived by her sons Bruce (Mary), Stuart (Linda), and Robert; four grandchildren, Robert (Christine) and Stephen, Shawn (Andrea) and Aylia Kellam (Freeman); 11 great-grandchildren, Calista, Kennedy, and Canon; Alex (Lexi), Noah (Jaquelyn), Stephanie Terrero (Yorkyn), Evan (Kiera) and Mark; Arielle, Alana, and Freeman; and one great-great-granddaughter, Juniper.

Her joyous spirit and zest for life abides with her family, but her physical presence, and her daily laughter will be deeply missed. The family thanks Freda H. Gordon Hospice for their kind guidance and warm support.

Copy the Story Link