Cynthia (Cindy) Claire Stemp, passed away unexpectedly from brief illness on October 11, 2025, at her home in Nampa, Idaho. She was 64 years young.

She was born February 21, 1961, in Salinas, California, the eldest child of Mary Ann DeBoer and Arthur Clark Stemp. Cindy and her sister were raised by their mother in Salinas, where she attended Alisal High School and proudly graduated with the class of 1979. She was top of her class in business and earned the Josten's Business Award.

After graduating, Cindy moved to San Jose, where she attended San Jose Community College and earned 60 credits in accounting courses. She enjoyed working as a supervisor at the local county fairgrounds and later as a cage cashier at a local card house and casino. While working at the casino, she was able to treat herself and her mother to a European vacation, where they visited several countries, including England, Germany, Ireland, France, and Holland. They loved seeing the castles in Germany and people watching in Paris, but one of the highlights for Cindy, of course, was being able to see where their ancestors lived before emigrating to America.

During this time, Cindy met and started dating Chris Yamamoto. She would soon learn that she was pregnant and gave birth to her only child, Joshua, in 1993. She then began the most rewarding and challenging experience of her life: raising her son as a single mother. In 1997, she and Josh moved to Nampa, Idaho. It was the start of a new adventure.

After arriving in Idaho, Cindy worked in various accounting positions. After obtaining a Medical Administrative Assistant Certification in 2003, Cindy began work in the medical billing field. While working for Nampa's Mercy Medical Center, Cindy would quip that she "worked for the Pope" – Mercy was owned by Catholic Health Initiatives, a part of the Catholic Church. She worked at Mercy until a combination of layoffs, health issues, and a global recession led her to other opportunities.

Cindy kept herself busy. She was always a creative person, who enjoyed crafts of all kinds - crochet, embroidery, painting, baking, and glass etching were all things she enjoyed at various times in her life. She had started a glass etching business before Josh was born, selling at craft shows and holiday bazaars in California and taking custom orders. She continued the hobby business after their move to Idaho, where she and Josh would have a booth at several events every year until the end of 2007.

When Josh was old enough, he joined Cub Scouts and continued through Boy Scouts. Cindy was actively involved in Josh's scouting journey. She was the parent leader of his Cub Scout pack, served as the Troop Advancement Chair in the Boy Scouts – tracking each boy's badge and rank progression, and bravely volunteering to be the "Popcorn Kernel" one year – leading popcorn sale logistics council wide. She was also always heavily involved in Josh's school parent-teacher organizations and had a knack for coordinating fundraisers for them.

In 2012, Cindy joined the Nampa chapter of the American Businesswomen's Association. The small chapter hosted the annual Easter Bonnet Scholarship Luncheon and offered scholarships for women in Idaho. When the group decided to create Idaho Women for Success, Cindy was one of the key members of the team creating the new non-profit organization. The mission for the new group was the same: to raise money for scholarships. Cindy was again in her element, holding the position of Fundraising Officer. Over the five years she was with those groups, they awarded eleven $1,000 scholarships to local women.

In 2014, Cindy started working as an Accounts Receivable Specialist for Aloha Gardening. She loved working for Aloha, and she considered it the best job she'd ever had. The owners, Michael and Steve, and other employees truly became a second family to her. After 11 years with Aloha, Cindy had just retired at the beginning of October. She was looking forward to having more time to spend on her passions and hobbies, exploring new K-cup flavors for her Keurig, managing the neighborhood "Kitty Cantina", and spending time with family and friends.

Anyone who knew her well would tell you that one of Cindy's deepest passions was genealogy. She has nearly 2,000 people going back to the early 1500's just on her tree alone, and she vetted and verified each person before they were added to the tree. She was also working on a tree for Josh's paternal side and was always thrilled to help others, whether it was getting started with their first tree or working with a variety of record types to add new family members. She was even able to track the birth family of a friend who had been adopted as a baby and was incredibly happy when this led to him being able to meet his biological family shortly before he passed away.

In the short time since her passing, Cindy has continued to have a positive impact on the world. When she passed, one of the first responders was able to catch one of the many kittens running around the neighborhood. They then brought the kitten to a shelter, who arranged a spay and neuter program for the neighborhood – something Cindy had been trying to organize for years. Many of the cats and kittens frequenting Cindy's cantina were collected and have now found safe and loving fur-ever homes throughout the local community.

Cindy is survived by her son, Joshua Stemp; sister and brother-in-law, Sandra and Paul Avila; and father, Arthur Stemp. She also leaves behind several other family members and many friends who will greatly miss her. She is preceded in death by her mother, Mary Ann Stemp; and former husband and friend, Joey Hernandez.

A memorial service will be held Friday, November 21, 2025, at 1:00 PM at the Nampa Funeral Home Yraguen Chapel at 415 12th Ave S, Nampa, ID 83651. The service will also be recorded and streamed live online. Cindy was cremated, and her ashes will be scattered at a later date. She wished to be scattered – alongside her beloved feline companions, Shadow and Radar – in the Santa Cruz mountains where she and her sister scattered their mother.

The family would like to give a heartfelt thank you to the Nampa Police and Fire Departments, Canyon County Paramedics and Coroner's Office, and Treasure Valley TIP for their expertise, professionalism, and tireless service. Their assistance on October 11 was invaluable.

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