Obituary of Sansing McPherson

It is with deep sorrow that we share the death of Cynthia Sansing Smith McPherson on July 2, 2023 from cancer.  Sansing was born in Montgomery, AL, on December 6, 1944.  She graduated in 1963 from Sidney Lanier High School, earned a BA in English from Auburn University, and a MEd from Kean University in New Jersey.

Sansing raised her family in Greensboro, NC and Randolph, NJ. She was a devoted parent and public-school teacher who delighted in empowering others with knowledge (and good grammar!). She retired with her husband Terry McPherson to Hilton Head Island, SC, in 2002 and quickly made many of the most important friendships of her life. Sansing believed in giving to her community: she served on the Board of the Literacy Center (now Bluffton Self Help) and the Island Writer’s Network (IWN) and volunteered in many other organizations. She co-edited the IWN’s yearly anthology, and is the author of many published short stories and two novels. A third novel was in the works when she passed. 

Sansing was an avid and adventurous world traveler and certified SCUBA diver. She was also a girl scout – literally and figuratively. She could be counted on to have pain reliever, lip balm and Band-Aids under any circumstance. The last year of her life was full of trips with family and friends, for which we are grateful.

She is survived by her daughter, Cindy McPherson of Oberlin, OH; son Duncan McPherson of Asheville, NC; and two grandsons, Dalin Frantz and Noah Frantz, both of Oberlin, OH. 

There will be a celebration of Sansing's life on Friday, October 13, 2023 at Spring Lake Pavilion in Hilton Head Plantation with a brief service at 4 pm and an Open House from 3 - 6 pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Bluffton Self Help (www.blufftonselfhelp.org, P.O. Box 2420, Bluffton, SC, 29910) or to the Island Writer’s Network (c/o Phil Lindsey, 7 Lexington Ave., Bluffton, SC 29910).