Hildee was vibrant, energetic and young at heart. She had the ability to make the most mundane situations fun and full of laughter.
“She was always the life of the party,” said daughter Jule Hamrick.
Hilda Holm Cyphers was known as Hildee by many. A mother of six children, Cyphers was remembered as a great listener and the person her friends and family went to for guidance.
If you knew her you would have probably answered to one of the many nicknames she gave out, like “George,” “Mabel” or “Henry” or even “Sugarbaby.”
“Anyone who came into her house became her child,” said son Tom Cyphers.
She dedicated herself to volunteer work. She served in the Junior League of Atlanta and as director of the Atlanta chapter of the American Red Cross in the 1980s. She built a skill set and had the knowledge to lead volunteers, her daughter Robin Crick said. “She loved people.”
Cyphers later became the leader of the Members Guild at the High Museum of Art. A position she would hold for 15 years.
“She was my adopted mom,” said Tracey Atwater, who worked with Cyphers at The High. “I went to her for advice more than my girlfriends.”
Atwater recalled when she and Cyphers worked a large event one night. The two women tied their long gowns in a knot to get on the floor and clean up a big mess.
“She was a cool hip lady; I’m proud to say she was my mother,” said daughter Ann Cyphers.
Cyphers, of Atlanta, died Sept. 5 of natural causes at her home. She was 87. A funeral was held Friday at Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta. H.M. Patterson & Son Oglethorpe Hill was in charge of arrangements.
“She loved loving and loved whoever needed loving the most,” said Crick. “She had an amazing way of finding the best in people.”
Cyphers always knew what to say, Hamrick said. She taught her children many lessons along with her husband of 40 years, Robert Allen Cyphers, who preceded her in death.
Her son mentioned one of those lessons: “She made us work for what we had, she told us if we wanted something we had to work for it,” Tom Cyphers said of his mother.
She spread that knowledge and guidance to her 13 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.
Hilda Holm Cyphers was also preceded in death by son Leonard Cyphers. In addition to her other son and three daughters Cyphers is survived by daughter Judith Allain of Franklin, La., 13 grand children and 11 great grandchildren.
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