Brantly Pierce on a boat in Amsterdam in 2018. Courtesy of her family

Cynthia Marie Brantly Pierce was born on April 15, 1964, in Palo Alto to Audrey Bullard Brantly and Eugene P. Brantly. Her family returned to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1967. Cindy graduated from Needham Broughton High School in 1982 and earned a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago in 1988. She married Curtis Pierce in 1995, and they settled in California shortly after to raise their family.

Cindy was a loving and devoted mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, cousin and friend. She built and sustained community in every aspect of her life and work, with lifelong friendships formed in her early years; with family and friends in the intentional co-housing “village” which she and Curtis helped create in Central Berkeley; with other parents at Berkeley Public Schools; with women in two moms’ groups; and with the many colleagues with whom she worked as a political fundraiser. 

Cindy dedicated her career to electing Democratic pro-choice women to federal, state, and local public office. After graduating from Loyola, Cindy moved to Washington DC to work on Capitol Hill, where she met her best friends Lisa and Jeanine. She soon found her passion: fighting for equal rights and closing the gender gap in legislatures across the country. After Cindy moved to California in 1995, she helped elect former Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey and later led fundraising efforts for former California State Senator Loni Hancock and former Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner. Cindy also was integral to the early success of Close the Gap CA — a nonprofit organization dedicated to gender parity in elected office — and helped double the number of women serving in the California Legislature.

When she wasn’t busy creating good trouble, Cindy loved spending time outdoors hiking, snowshoeing and canoeing with friends and family. Her garden was her happy place — the beautiful yard now beginning to bloom is a living manifestation of her tender care and the generous green thumb of her sibling-in-law and fellow “village” member Pauly Pagenhart. Cindy was an avid traveler: She backpacked through Europe in her 20s, traversed several continents with her family, and saw the Northern Lights from the Arctic Circle in between chemo treatments.

Backpacking across Europe in her 20s. Courtesy of her family

Cindy was active in the PTAs at Berkeley Arts Magnet, King Middle School and Berkeley High School, where her two kids, Will and Clayton, attended. In 2006, she helped ensure the passage of Measure A to secure necessary funding for Berkeley Public Schools. Cindy continued to champion and elect women to office in California until she was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. In 2024, Cindy felt she had to work again to save our democracy, and she volunteered regularly with the local chapter of Flip the Vote. For her 60th birthday, she hosted a fundraising party with hundreds of people in her backyard in Berkeley. Cindy was proud of the change that she helped create across the country by electing Democratic pro-choice women to office and advocating for her communities.

Cindy passed away on Jan. 26, 2026, after a years-long battle with cancer. She was at peace and surrounded by many of her loved ones. She will be missed dearly by her beloved family and by the incredible communities she built in Berkeley and beyond. Cindy is survived by her husband, Curtis, and their kids Clayton and Will; brothers Biff and Clay; mother-in-law Martha Boesing; fellow “village” members Jennifer Boesing, Pauly Pagenhart, and Ann Ziegler; and many in-laws, aunts, uncles, and cousins in the Bullard, Brantly, Pierce, Boesing, and Pagenhart families.

Left to right: Cindy Brantly Pierce, Curtis Pierce, Will Pierce, and Clayton Pierce in 2022. Credit: Julie Kay Kelly

Cindy made an indelible impact as a political fundraiser and organizer. In recognition of her years of dedication to electing women to public office, the California State Assembly and Senate will adjourn in her honor on April 13, as will the Berkeley City Council on April 14. 

Cindy’s remains were interred at the Historic Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, North Carolina, next to her mother and father. In lieu of flowers, Cindy requested donations to organizations to which she was devoted: Close the Gap CA, Flip the Vote, and Planned Parenthood. If you would like to give a gift in her memory, you can visit ImWithCindy.com, where you will find donation pages as well as a place to share memories with her family and community. 

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