Cynthia Galyardt

A graveside service for Cynthia Carswell Galyardt, 92, formerly of Lawrence and Naples, FL, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 6, 2026 at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence, KS. She passed away on February 25, 2026, at the Santa Marta community in Olathe, KS.

Cynthia was born January 1, 1934, in Emporia, KS to Jay Horton and Lena (Anderson) Carswell. She was raised in Kansas City and graduated from Westport High School in 1951. She attended Kansas State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism in 1955. While at Kansas State, she was a member of Theta Sigma Phi and Kappa Kappa Gamma.

She retired as a program manager with the University of Kansas Division of Continuing Education. Earlier in her career, she served as an administrator of the Prevention Program Development for the Kansas SRS Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services. She also worked as Public Relations Director for the Kansas Lung Association and editor of the Kansas Business Review.

Cynthia was the first recipient of the Ounce of Prevention Award from the Kansas Association of Prevention Professionals and served as secretary of the National Association of Prevention Professionals. She was a board member of Kansas Press Women and received several writing awards. She was past president of the Kansas Association for School Health and active in the Lawrence and Collier County, FL Kappa Alumnae Associations. She was a 65 year member of Tomahawk DAR, and a life member of the KSU Alumni Association, and a member of Village Presbyterian church. In 1985, she and her husband, Andy Galyardt, were honored as KSU All-University Parents.

Cynthia and Andy spent many of their retirement years in Naples, FL, where they loved entertaining family and friends.

She is survived by her daughter, Susan (Rob) Herwig; her sons, Tom (Mary Jo) Galyardt and Mark Galyardt; and seven grandchildren: Amanda (Stephen) Lachky, Andrew (Emma) Herwig, Katelyn (Zach) Evans, Mark (Molly) Herwig, Samantha (Cody) Naginey, Jackson Galyardt, Brock (Tyler Thoman, fiancé) Galyardt. She is also survived by her great-grandchildren: Ava, Emmie, and Kate Herwig; Justin, Vivian, and Genevieve Lachky; George and Harrison Evans; and Thomas and Joseph Naginey; as well as her nephew, Peter Laughlin, and niece, Melissa Almquist.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband of 64 years, Andy Galyardt, and her sisters; Irene Carswell Peden, PhD, and Jo Ann Laughlin.

The family suggests memorial contributions in Cynthia’s name to the KSU Foundation for the Galyardt Family Scholarship Fund, 1800 Kimball Ave. Ste. 200, Manhattan, KS 66502; or to Gamma Alpha House Association c/o Christy Scott, Treasurer, 3707 Peachtree Circle, Manhattan, KS, 66503. Memorials may be sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary.