Lucinda Anne “Cindy” Zimmerman, who warmly supported aging elders in her community for years, died June 27, 2026. She was 88.
Cindy was a model for the importance of people in our world who simply help, those who step up for jobs lacking in glamour, but that improve and enrich lives. She nearly wore her hands out writing hundreds of personal thank-you notes to those who donated to the Jackson Friendly Home, a non-profit residence for elderly women at which her mother had lived. After her mother died, Cindy continued her dedicated support. She served on the home’s board and took delight in taking “the ladies” on outings and facilitating sing-alongs.
She spent years singing in Jackson’s First Presbyterian Church choir and weekly assembled and printed the church bulletin. A trained and experienced secretary, she had a sharp eye for typos and failings of grammar. Her three children benefited from her talents, even as we grumbled to forever be directed to the dictionary when we couldn’t spell a word or endured constant correction when we mangled proper English.
Cindy was born on Oct. 11, 1937, in Miami, FL, to Leopold and Hazel (Rollins) Rintelman. An only child, she moved with them to New Lenox, IL, in elementary school, then to Belleville, MI, where she graduated in the class of 1955.
She was a secretary at the Willow Run Research Center, a classified position at the defense and technology research arm operated by the University of Michigan in Ypsilanti. She then worked at Bendix Systems Division in Ann Arbor.
It was when she moved to Jackson with her mother and stepfather, Gilbert Taylor, to take a secretarial job at Aeroquip Corp., that she met her husband, Robert Zimmerman. They married in August 1964 and raised three children on Maple Drive – Sue Zimmerman (Jeff McLeod) of Ann Arbor, David (Alfa) Zimmerman of Beverly, MA, and Steven (Michelle) Zimmerman of Okemos. She is survived as well by her husband, Bob, and grandchildren Taylor (Alex) Waldhour, and Owen (Jane Nodland), Avery, Alex and Penny Zimmerman. She was preceded in death by her great-granddaughter Juliana Waldhour.
Her life was filled with unwavering devotion and delight. She loved her family and a long line of spoiled dogs and granddogs. She kept lifelong friends. Even as hearing and memory loss relentlessly whittled away activities and pleasures, she maintained a gleeful wit and uncanny gratitude to the end.
The family is grateful to the staff of Vista Grande Villa, where she lived with Bob since 2019, and the wonderful care of Optimal Hospice.
A memorial service will be Friday, July 10, 2026, 11:30 a.m. at Jackson’s First Presbyterian Church, 743 W. Michigan Ave., officiated by Rev. David Schell with a luncheon to follow. The family will receive friends Friday, before the service from 11 - 11:30 a.m. The family is served by Cole Funeral Home in Chelsea. Donations would be welcome in her name to the Jackson Friendly Home.
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