Dorothy Louise (Baxter) Cibula

 DOROTHY  LOUISE  BAXTER  CIBULA, loving wife, mother, and volunteer, died after a short battle with cancer on August 31, 2020 at the age of 89, surrounded by her family. Born August 6, 1931 to parents Charles T. Baxter and Lillian Svec Baxter, she was a lifelong Clevelander.  She graduated from West High School and Miami University, returning to West High to teach home economics for several years, before marrying Fred C. Cibula in 1956 and settling into raising their family. When he developed multiple sclerosis, she became his full-time caregiver as well as the business manager for Aluminum Match Plate, the family aluminum foundry. 

After Fred’s death in 1997, she enjoyed travelling, leading annual family trips to far flung destinations. She also expanded her volunteering activities.  She convened the West High Class of 1949 reunions for over 60 years as class officer, and served as an officer of Gamma Phi Beta Cleveland West Alumnae, secretary of the Cleveland League of Women Voters, with the Lake Erie Basin task force for Dike 14 (now the Cleveland Lakefront Nature Preserve), and as a Stephen Minister at Fairview Hospital. She loved jigsaw puzzles and to play bridge and card games. She also made quilts for the homeless, volunteered as an after-school reading tutor, and was a longtime member of the Altar Guild and choir at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. Recently she was a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Lakewood and St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Berea. Truly, she expressed her faith in action. 

She was predeceased by her husband Fred, and later longtime companion Stewart Mickley, as well as her sister and brother in law, Shirley B. and William R. Berndsen.  She is survived by her three children and their spouses, Ann & Richard Zultner Jr, David & Patricia Cibula, and Jean Cibula & David Nessl, as well as 4 grandchildren, Kate Zultner Saul (Sean), Richard Zultner III, Nathan and Rachael Cibula and great grandson, Spencer. She also leaves many friends at the Renaissance, Olmsted Township.

Memorial services will be held at a later date. The family would like to particularly thank John Stamatiades, Brian Mickley, Dr. Fred Jorgenson and the residents of the Center for Family Medicine as well as Bridgewater Senior Home Care and the Hospice of the Western Reserve for their support during her final days. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations may be made to the Pastoral Care Ministry at Cleveland Clinic/Fairview Hospital, The League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland Education Fund or the Nature Conservancy.

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