Cynthia Louise Sewell

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Private services are planned for Cynthia Louise Sewell, 78, Falls Church, Va.

Ms. Sewell died Thursday, July 8, 2004, in Fairfax, Va.

She was born Dec. 16, 1925, in Lawrence, Kan., the daughter of Leo F. Sr. and Blanche Marie Smith.

She grew up in Baldwin, Kan., and attended Baldwin public schools.

Ms. Sewell attended the University of Chicago and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Hunter College in New York City in 1954. She earned a Master of Arts in English literature from the University of Maryland in 1970.

During the 1950s, Ms. Sewell worked as an editorial assistant at Puck Comics, as an advertising assistant at The New Yorker magazine and as a tour guide at Rockefeller Center in New York.

She taught English from 1969 to 1972 and was a cancer biologist from 1972 to 1989.

Ms. Sewell’s four marriages ended in divorce.

Survivors include a daughter, Leslie Carangi Kelley, New York; a son, Jeffrey Carangi, Newport News, Va.; and a brother, Leo F. Smith Jr., Baldwin.