Cynthia Ennis Mitchell

March 5, 1959 — October 14, 2024

Cynthia Ennis Mitchell passed away after a long and courageous battle against colon cancer in Alexandria, VA. She was 65 years old.

She was born on March 5, 1959, to Robert Brower Ennis and (Cynthia) Wren Mixon Ennis, in Colorado Springs, CO, where her father was on the faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Her childhood was that of a military brat, living in many places including Montgomery, AL; Abilene, TX; Albuquerque, NM; and Clark AFB, Philippines. Her parents met while her father was stationed at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. The family moved to Alexandria, VA, in 1966, when her father was assigned to the Pentagon. In 1970, they relocated to the Philippines for two years during the Vietnam War.

Alexandria was always home to her. She attended first through fifth grades at George Mason Elementary, sixth and seventh grades at DOD schools in the Philippines, and eight through twelfth grades in Alexandria. She graduated from T.C. Williams High School in 1977 and from Wake Forest University in 1981. The highlight of her college experience was a semester in Venice studying Italian language, Venetian art, and Byzantine history, which she later saw as preparing her for conversion to the Orthodox Church in 1990. After graduating with a B.A. in psychology, she went to work for Marriott, beginning at the Twin Bridges hotel near the Pentagon. She was on duty at the front desk when Air Florida Flight 90 crashed between the bridges on January 13, 1982. Later that year, she moved with Marriott to open a new hotel in Raleigh, NC. After the opening, she left Marriott to sell life insurance in Raleigh.

She met her husband at a cousin’s family gathering in Mount Vernon, VA, in December 1981, but they did not begin dating until April 1983, when she was in Raleigh and he was stationed at Fort Bragg, NC. They were married in Alexandria on December 17, 1983. In her time as an Army wife, she lived a year in Arizona, a year with her parents in Alexandria while her husband was stationed in Turkey, and then two years at Fort Meade, MD. When her husband left the Army in 1987, they settled in Alexandria. They moved to Houston, TX, in 1995 but returned to Alexandria for good in 1998.

For most of her married life, she was a full-time mother, home-schooling her three children in their early years, then carpooling them to school and all the usual after-school events. For several years, she and her younger daughter ran a dog-walking business in Alexandria. When her youngest reached junior high school, she returned to full-time work as an administrative assistant at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. She continued there for 15 years, beginning in the development office and specializing in event planning. In her last position, as senior admin assistant for Academic Affairs, she worked for the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs. She juggled many plates and was well liked by faculty, staff, students, and visitors who benefited from her cheerful assistance in so many matters, from plumbing leaks to travel reimbursements, to re-accreditation and finding accommodations for interview candidates.

She nearly died of cancer when it was first discovered in 2013, but two surgeries and a round of chemotherapy gave her three more years of near perfect health, during which she climbed Mount Sinai while visiting her elder daughter’s in-laws in Egypt. She was even the first of her group to reach the summit. When her cancer recurred in 2017, she left Marymount to spend more time with family and friends and do her very best in fighting cancer. She was a model patient—pleasant, inquisitive, cooperative, and diligent in looking after her health through seven more years of chemo, radiation, proton therapy, cryosurgery, and kyphoplasty. Always cheerful and energetic, she served as a mentor to others diagnosed with the same cancer and was invited to speak at meetings of medical and pharmaceutical professionals on the effectiveness of her treatments.

When well, she enjoyed biking, tennis, and swimming. She was also in that time an especially effective member of the sisterhood at church, where she organized the first food teams for coffee hour, the first women’s retreats, and the annual pre-Lent chili cook-off, all of which continue to this day. Even when not well, she would go for long walks in her neighborhood almost every day, stopping often to visit with friends met along the way. She had several frequent walking buddies. Her life was full with family and her many friends from church, childhood, high school, college, and neighborhood.

In her final years, she was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Dr. Elisha Dick Chapter, an honor she wished passed down to her daughters and granddaughters.

She was preceded in death by her beloved parents, Robert and Wren Ennis. She is survived by her devoted husband of 40 years, Brian Patrick Mitchell; her three happy, faithful children: Alma Jean Zaki (George) of Annandale, VA, John Tillman Mitchell IV (Nancy) of Richmond, VA, and Paula Brantley Rogers (Brian) of Nashville, TN; her six adoring and adorable grandchildren: Katrine, Raphael, Joanna, Emilia, Jack, and Elias; and her beloved brother Charles Mixon Ennis (Laura) of Melbourne, FL.

In lieu of flowers, she asked that donations be made in her honor to the following nonprofits: (1) Assist Pregnancy Center (assistpartners.org) in Springfield, VA, where she volunteered when well, (2) International Justice Mission (www.ijm.org), where her elder daughter interned, helping in the fight against human trafficking, (3) Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery (www.mountsinaimonastery.org), or (4) the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St John the Baptist (stjohndc.org), where her husband is a protodeacon and she was a beloved matushka known by her saint name, Joanna.

May her memory be eternal!