Cynthia Keever

Died April 10, 2024

Austin, Texas

From The Austin American Statesman

Cynthia Lee Pendergrass Keever died peacefully at home on April 10, 2024, with her two children, Graham and Erin, and her cat Linus at her side. She was 83 years old. Cindy was predeceased by her husband Jack Elton Keever, her mother Margaret Lee Stephens Pendergrass, and her father Roger Watus Pendergrass.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Cindy’s parents were artists and active in the Dallas arts scene during the 1930s and 40s. She graduated from North Dallas High School where she was a member the Junior Red Cross, Quill and Scroll, Honor Roll, Art Club, and the Viking yearbook staff.

In 1958, Cindy came to the University of Texas at Austin. She met her future husband, Jack, in the first class she attended as a freshman, and they married in December 1961.

In college Cindy participated in many campus organizations, including the student government’s International Commission, the women’s communications organization, Theta Sigma Phi, and the advertising fraternity, Gamma Alpha Chi. She was staff assistant for the Cactus yearbook, on the Texas Union Newsletter committee, and desk editor, night editor, and associate campus life editor for the Daily Texan. She also was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.

After she graduated from UT with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 1962, she began working at the university’s International Office alongside its founder, Joe W. Neal, playing a leading role in the exchange program with Chile and acting as liaison to foreign students from all over the world.

Cindy received a master’s degree in history in 1968, and in 1974 won a prestigious Outstanding Young Women of America award in Washington, D.C. In 1975 she earned a second master’s from UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. After five years in state government, she went on to work for nearly 30 years as Executive Vice President of Centex Beverage, owned by friend and colleague, Lowell H. Lebermann.

Cindy thoroughly enjoyed her involvement in numerous civic activities. She served two terms as a trustee of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. She was in an early class of Leadership Austin and on the Austin Environmental Board. She held board positions with the Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin Theatre Alliance, Texas Folklife, and was on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Advisory Board.

Attending All Saints Episcopal Church since her college days, Cindy served on the vestry, the Altar Guild, and breakfast club. For a brief time, she also taught Sunday school. Supporting her alma mater, Cindy was a member of the UT Chancellor’s Council, and the Longhorn Foundation.

A longtime member of the Headliners Club, the Tuesday Club, and Another Board Meeting, Cindy was an avid reader and regularly attended multiple informal book club gatherings.

To her children’s great amusement, Cindy played guitar for a group of female pop-country musicians called the Strawberry Pickers. In the mid-1970s, “the pickers” played charity events, a few clubs, and restaurants (including the old Lock Stock & Barrel on Anderson Lane), Austin Aqua Festival, and Highland Mall’s Fourth of July Western Day’s Celebration.

Since her time at the International Office, Cindy had a keen desire to travel, taking many trips to Mexico with family and friends, and visiting farther flung locales such as Canada, Europe, China, India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.

While retired, Cindy served on the Lebermann Foundation’s board, helping their mission to support research and education opportunities for the future leaders of Texas.

Despite her many professional obligations, Cindy found time to nurture everyone she knew. She was an excellent cook and enjoyed entertaining. Above all things, she loved her family, home, pets, garden, and many wonderful friends who sustained her throughout her life.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to All Saint’s Episcopal Church, 209 W. 27th St, Austin, TX 78705, www.allsaints-austin.org, the Jack Keever Scholarship Fund at the Headliners Foundation, PO Box 97, Austin 78767-0097, www.headlinersfoundation.org/bio-jack-e-keever, or the charity of the contributor’s choice. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.