AUBURN — Surrounded by her loving family and friends, our beloved sister, aunt, godmother and friend, Cynthia “Cyndi” M. Gagne, 56, lost her valiant fight with metastatic breast cancer on Thursday, March 22, at the Hospice House.

Anyone who met Cynthia instantly recognized her outgoing spirit, trademark honest nature and positive attitude. Her infectious laugh and sense of humor lit up many a gathering.

Cynthia best loved spending time with family, friends, her church community and her beloved black Lab, Jake. She also enjoyed drawing, painting and travel, having worked as a guide on ski trips in Austria and cruise adventures to the Caribbean.

Born in Berlin, N.H., Aug. 22, 1961, Cynthia graduated from Westbrook College with a degree in fashion merchandising, before spending years working in retail, banking and counseling. For many years she was a feng shui consultant with her own business as well.

In later years, after her own struggle with mental illness, she studied to be a peer counselor so that she might help others cope with their psychiatric issues. She worked as a counselor with several local agencies, including the Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta.

Cynthia owed her several years of living with cancer to outstanding treatment from her incredible team of providers, especially Dr. Nicholette Erickson, Nurse Practitioner Julie-Ann Booker and her oncology nurse navigator, Sarah Lawson, whom she truly considered a friend. And throughout it all, Cynthia especially came to rely on her sister, Rachel Collins, her brother-in-law, Brian Collins, her best friend, Linda Grimaldi Raymond, her brother, Lance Gagne and his wife, Twanna, and her sister, Jennifer Gagne.

Cynthia considered her nieces and nephews as her own children. She was a godmother to her brother, Lance Gagne, and her nephew, Sean Collins. In addition to Sean, she leaves behind Sean’s fiancé, Ana Ka Cardoso; niece, Erin Collins, and nephew, Liam Collins, McKenzie and Kennedy Berry, Lucy and Orin Knowles; and her “adopted” family, Ashley Grimaldi, and Alexis and Christopher Raymond.

In addition to Rachel and Brian of Greenland, N.H., Cynthia leaves behind a mother, Lorraine Gagne, of York; brother, Lance, and his wife, Twanna, of Auburn; sister, Jennifer Gagne, and her fiancé, Orin Knowles, of New Sharon; friend, Linda Grimaldi Raymond, of Hampton, N.H.; her aunt and godmother, Shirley Eafrati, of Manchester, N.H.; her aunt, Nancy Gothreau, of Tucson, Ariz.; and her aunt, Sandra Plewa, of Palo Alto, Calif.

She was predeceased by her father, Robert Gagne, and her stepmother, Johan (Bourque) Gagne.

Condolences, photos and memories may be shared at http://www.staplesfuneralhome.com/.

Cynthia “Cyndi” M. Gagne