Cynthia M. Pham

Cynthia Marie Pham, 72, of Silvis, IL, died Saturday, June 28 at Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, Bettendorf.

Services will be Wednesday, July 2, at 10:30 a.m. at Calvary Lutheran Church, 2900 Avenue of the Cities, Moline, IL. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, July 1, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Esterdahl Mortuary, Moline. Burial will be in Greenview Memorial Gardens, East Moline.

Memorials may be made to Calvary Lutheran Church or to the American Cancer Society.

Cindy was born March 18, 1953, in Dixon, IL, a daughter of Donald Richard and Marlowe Esther (Mellgren) Carlson. She married Vinh Quang Pham on June 6, 1976, at Calvary Lutheran Church. Cindy met Vinh, an immigrant from South Vietnam, when she served as his English language tutor after his family came to the United States through a refugee resettlement program. His family and a friend were sponsored locally by her church. Vinh had served with the South Vietnamese Army as a mechanic during the Viet Nam war, fixing vehicles and driving them back to the front lines. He had been part of the U.S. evacuation from Saigon when that city fell to the North Vietnamese in 1975. Vinh preceded her in death on Nov. 12, 2020.

Cindy is a 1971 graduate of Moline Senior High School, Moline, IL. She graduated with honors from Augustana College, Rock Island, IL, in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in education. She was the final president of her Augie sorority, Kappa Tau, which disbanded at the end of that year.

Cindy was a talented floral designer, learning the trade in the family business, Flowerland Florist in Moline. She was later employed at K’nees Florist and the floral department at Hy-Vee. In her early years, she also taught at Arrowhead Ranch in Coal Valley, IL. Cindy was most recently employed as a bank teller at Blackhawk Bank, retiring in 2018. She also sold Watkins products for over 30 years and had worked with the English as a Second Language program at Black Hawk College in Moline.

She loved spending time with her grandkids, traveling, music, flowers and cooking—especially egg rolls. One of her favorite vacation spots was Myrtle Beach, S.C. Cindy was often asked to create bouquets and decorations for the weddings of family members and friends, which she kindly did with exceptional artistry.

She is survived by a daughter, Cassandra “Cassie” (Dan) Sumpter, Carrollton, TX, and a son, Jonathan Pham, Silvis; five grandchildren, Bentley, Olivia, Callum and Lily Sumpter, and Jonny Rosenbaum-Pham; and sisters, Pam (Gary) Gross, Moline, and Barb (Joe) Geerts, Davenport, IA.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents and several aunts, uncles and cousins.