Cynthia Hull Hammett, 75, of Fort Worth, Tex. and New Harbor, passed away on Sept. 8 after battling courageously for three months complications of ovarian cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Cynthia, artist and arts patron, opera lover, animal rescuer, global traveler, chef, and hostess extraordinaire, was the daughter of the late Peggy and the late John Hammett. She had an incredible career in communications, journalism and art. Cynthia was born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, mostly in Summit and Bay Head. For the past 25 years, she lived with her husband, Richard A Russack, in Fort Worth, Tex., New Harbor, and since 2008, they had an apartment in New York City.
Cynthia graduated from the Kent Place School, and earned her B.A. and M.A. degrees in art history and urban planning at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She was awarded a Fullbright Scholarship to study at the University of Florence, a Kresge Fellowship for study at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London and the London School of Economics.
Ms. Hammett began her communications career with the Prudential Life Insurance Company, and also worked with Chase and was the director of communications for Philip Morris International for 10 years, producing brochures, films and managing the Company’s Art Exhibition Program in various capitals of the world. She briefly worked for Planned Parenthood International in New York, before becoming managing editor of the Block Island Times, where she and Richard lived for nearly 20 years.
It was in 2000, when she and her husband began building their New Harbor home that Cynthia started oil painting under the guidance of the late John Urbain, a friend and noted collage and oil painter. She took classes at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth under now retired professor of art Jim Woodson, who was the 2014 Texas Artist of the Year. She also has exhibited at numerous galleries and art centers in Fort Worth and mid-coast Maine. Her paintings are a part of collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.
In addition to her husband and their pets, Paolo, Lucia, Raven and Boris, Cynthia’s survivors include her sister, Elizabeth Taggart and husband Bill; brother, Peter and wife Prudence; nephews, Chris Nolan and wife Carolyn; children, Morgan and Ian, and Peter Hammett and wife Kristy, and daughter Lucille; nieces, Hilary Cohen and son Patrick Penlington, and Priscilla Vincent and husband Rob, and children, Hadley and Cooper; and numerous cousins.
Additionally, Cynthia had great influence on the lives of Richard’s three children: son, Eric and wife Amy; daughter, Robin and husband Jim Brown; and son, Evan and wife Kelly; and their children, Will, Chloe, Claire and Kate Russack; Samantha, Scott and Ted Brown; and Trevor and Lucas Russack.
A private family gathering will be held to bury Cynthia’s ashes in New Harbor.