Cynia B. Shimm

DURHAM- The Shimm family is sad to announce that Dr. Cynia B. Shimm died quietly December 28, 2018 at The Forest at Duke, following a prolonged illness. Cynia was born June 29, 1926 in New York City to Harry and Roslyn Brown. After graduating from Cornell, she attended medical school at Columbia for two years before marrying Melvin, and then graduating from Yale Medical School in 1950. After a brief stay in New York and Chicago, the family moved to Durham in 1953. After raising her sons, Cynia completed a residency in psychiatry at Duke and attended the UNC-Duke Psychoanalytic Institute. She then practiced psychiatry in Durham for many years, at one time serving as chair of the psychiatry department at Durham Regional Hospital. After retiring from the practice of medicine, Cynia became an accomplished painter, and remained an active member of the Durham Jewish community and the Beth-El congregation. Cynia was preceded in death by Melvin, her husband of 57 years, and her son Jonathan. She is survived by her sister Judith MacDonald, her son and daughter-in-law David and Carmen Shimm, her daughter in-law Judy Shimm, and her grandsons Abe and Alex Shimm. She will be buried this weekend at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, alongside her husband, with a memorial to take place at a time to be determined at The Forest at Duke. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.