Cynthia Gail Hebard
August 30, 1954 – November 3, 2023

Cindi passed away with her family around her, holding her hands and giving her unconditional love and support at the end of a long, hard fought battle with COPD and emphysema.

Born to William Leslie “Les” Hebard Sr and Calista June “Pat” Mell (Owsley) in Roseburg, Oregon; she moved to Eureka at a very young age. She attended Pine Hill Elementary School, Jacobs and graduated from Eureka Senior High School in 1972.

Survived by her husband Stephen Wolke, her “Pop” Jon R. Mell, her brothers, “Burgie” Bill Hebard and Jon B. Mell, her sister Wendy Starr, her son, R. Morgan W. J. (Kayla) Chapman, her daughter Jaycie (Brian) Chapman Shearer, her grandchildren, Anthony Riley Lovel, G. Hayden N. Lovel, Aurora Rose Chapman and Stella Rose Chapman.

She is proceeded in death by her first daughter and first true love, Nicole Spring Romano (March 21, 1974 – July 23, 1974 ), her mother, Pat Mell and father, Les Hebard.

Cindi was a force to be reckoned with. She was a fierce and independent woman who was never to be told how to live her life. She had a strong work ethic, believing you work for what you want and respect what you have. She was quick witted and brutally honest with her beliefs and feelings. She wanted the best for everyone she met but also had no problem calling you a dumbass, telling you what you did wrong and what you needed to do to fix it. She was a smart, stubborn, clever, loving woman crammed into a tiny firecracker of a package.

As a single mother most of her life, she always worked hard at various jobs to stay self-sufficient. She cleaned houses, did interior and exterior painting, bartended and any other job she could find to support her children.

In the late ‘80s she decided to become her own boss and opened a cafeteria on the 3rd floor of the Caltrans Building in Eureka. She named it “The Pothole” and Caltrans (at first) was not amused. She owned that business for nearly 20 years and ran it single handedly every day, Monday - Friday, 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. In the beginning, when her children were small, she would take them to work with her, get them ready for school in her back office and take a 20 minute “break” to drop them off. She would work the rest of the day, close the restaurant, run errands, pick up kids and always ended the day with a homecooked dinner. In mid-2006 she decided to close her cafeteria due to rising costs and shrinking profits. In 2003 she started at the Eureka Post Office as a weekend rural carrier for the Hydesville, Carlotta and other surrounding areas. During this time, she met her husband, Steve Wolke. They dated for a few years before getting married on October 16, 2008, just recently celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary.

As Cindi was an excellent cook, loved baking and canning and was a very driven person, she started her next small business, Granny Be Jammin in 2007. She had her kitchen licensed and certified as a “home kitchen” with the city and county and began her next business endeavor. She was extremely proud of her business and made many friends and lifelong customers along the way. Her products were sold at Kneeland Glen Farm Stand, at Pierson’s in their holiday store and she rarely missed a flea market in any of the surrounding towns. She also had a steady customer base that knew all they had to do was call and order at her home number. She specialized in Low-Sugar Fruit Jams and personal pies of many different varieties. She also was known for her breads, cookies, and other treats that she thought up. She was also known for donating her products to the various activities and school events her grandchildren participated in; often being found volunteering her time to ensure her daughter was running a smooth and successful snack bar. (Thanks, momma)

Cindi was an avid gardener and loved the outdoors. She would use the items from her organic backyard garden in her business. She grew multiple types of berries, fruits and vegetables. When her garden wasn’t producing what she needed, she always knew who to reach out to for picking permission to ensure her products stayed organic and great quality. Cindi also taught her older grandchildren how to make jams and different pies so her knowledge would be sure to get passed to the younger generation.

She also loved camping. For many years every summer she would reserve the same spot at Swimmers Delight, load up her two kids, whatever dogs she had, one tent, a lot of food and would spend a week camping, cooking, playing, water coloring river rocks, sketching the scenery, searching for fossils and making magical memories with her most prized possessions, her children. Once she had grandkids, they became her newest camping companions. Another of her favorite things was agate hunting at the many beaches she had access to. She truly loved nature and all it had to offer.

Cindi was an animal lover, always possessing some type of animal. Her house always had at least one dog, but no more than 5 at any given time and most years a cat or two. When her children were young, she wanted them to know what farm life was like, so there were always chickens and ducks to care for. She even adopted 3 cows and raised them in her back yard. She loved her wild birds that she fed, all her little hummingbirds that would come back yearly and nested in the same spot in her patio, her backyard chickens and even the little spider that lived in her lamp next to her bed.

Her home was always open to her family, friends and kids’ friends, making them feel welcomed and cared for. She was usually loved, always respected and even sometimes feared by the many people that knew her and called her family or friend.

She did a lot of things and touched a lot of people during her short 69 years on this earth. She never missed an opportunity to let her kids and grandkids know how much she loved them. Her presence is and will be extremely missed by her family and friends but knowing she is not in pain, is in a better place and will always be with us, we will continue in the hopes of making her proud.

A memorial in celebration of her life will be held after the holidays for all that would like to attend. The date and time are still undetermined, but we will keep all updated.

###