Cindy Umphries

Cindy Umphries was found deceased at her Wheatridge, Colorado, residence on July 10th, 2024, at the age of 84. 

 Cindy Marie Umphries was born Franklin Dale Umphries on April 4, 1940, in Denver Colorado to Parents, Hazel (Edwards) and Dale Umphres who both preceded her/him in death. 

Our unique Aunt Frank was preceded in death by his eldest Sister, Hazel Shirley, of Conifer, Colorado, and his little Sister, Veronica Lee Hardin, of Denver, Colorado. He was also preceded in death by his beloved Neice Tracy Sue Burke of Ft. Myers, Florida, and his beloved Nephews, Ronald Leslie Keithline of Lakewood, Colorado, and Jay Keithline of Boulder, Colorado. He was also preceded in death by his great nephew Benjamin Kalina, for whom he played Santa Claus every Christmas for many years. 

He is survived by one loving big Sister, Emily Keithline of Lakewood, Colorado. Our family has only one matriarch now, and in her words, she recalls her relationship, “For the last eight years, we would go to breakfast almost every month. It’s been loads of fun because we reminisced about days gone by. We exchanged photos of the family. Unfortunately, I still have some I was supposed to copy. We mostly laughed, it was good. When my brother lived in Florida, we had fun watching the Kentucky Derby miles apart on the phone, and he was always the first to wish me Happy New Year. I knew my brother as Frankie and respected his choice to be Cindy. I had difficulty remembering to call her Cindy because I had called him Frankie for some 70 years. He would ignore it. Recently, he told me I could call him Frankie. I loved him so much, and I’ll never forget him. I’ll be forever a loving sister, Emily.”

For 60 years, his family knew and loved him as Uncle Frank, the baseball-loving, avid bowler who took his nieces and nephews to church on Sunday, taught them to bowl and enjoy McDonald's hamburgers.

Though never married and having no children of his own, Aunt/Uncle Frank/Cindy is now survived by an array of nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews who loved him/her and hold our memories in our hearts. 

His Nephew, Pastor Ed Shirley of Conifer, Colorado, fondly remembered, “He was my softball coach as a kid, and he coached our church team as well. He taught me the game of baseball!” 

Franklin Umphries's shining memories in life always included baseball. He once was a bat-boy turned player for the Denver Bears Baseball Team. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to continue playing the game because of the ongoing setbacks of undergoing major heart surgery at the age of 17. But he continued to be a fan, especially of the New York Yankees, and he would speak fondly of a time he was given the opportunity to watch the Yankees play ball in New York City. 

Uncle Frank Aunt Cindy had various careers throughout his/her life, including playing Minor League Baseball and working in banking, customer service, and fashion consulting. 

As he grew older, he enjoyed fixing hair. His niece, Alisha Krajnik of Elk City, Oklahoma, remembers, “Uncle Frank would style my hair, making me feel special as a child.” 

His great-niece Taby Burke of Ft. Myers, Florida, recalls his cuisine skills, “He made excellent buttered noodles!” 

Survivors include Emily Keithline, Russell (Conni) Keithline, Ed (Mona) Shirley, Tamme (Gary) Hodge, Connie Elstun, Alisha (Trinton) Krajnik, Candy (Simon) Gonzales, Daryl Kalina, Harrison Elstun, Russell Keithline II, Brittany Keithline, Sheri Hubert, Jay Keithline III, Leslie Matthew, Luke Hodge, Taby Sue Burke along with multiple other great nieces and nephews. 

Frank not only lived in Colorado. In 1977, he moved to Ft Myers, Florida, with his aging Mother, Hazel, and her husband, Al, for whom he would serve as a caretaker for many years while working at Sam’s Club customer service. He cared for his mother until her death, after which he moved back to Denver and made several changes to his life for himself. 

He kept some of his passions with him especially for his love of Jesus, caring for others, and horror movies when crossing over into the next chapter of his life. 

For the last 23 years he would introduce himself as Cindy or Aunt Frank to family. She became a trans-female by choice and became a friend of their community helping others with their hair and makeup at local pageants through his last employment at Phylis’ Fantasies of Denver Colorado, where he became close friends of the owner Phylis Rogers of Cherry Creek. 

I, his niece Connie Elstun, of Littleton, Colorado, remember my Uncle Frankie as more of a brother and a friend. We grew up in the same home, and he introduced me to my passion for writing through his love of the horror genre, for which I will always be grateful.

He tried to teach me Baseball which I was never very good at but was always fascinated by the way he could recall stats. He also memorized Horse race stats at Centennial Race Track which we shared a mutual love for. I must mention my cherished memories of being taught as a new-mom how to bowl for exercise. I became a very good lefty bowler because of Uncle Frankie’s lessons not to mention becoming a better person all-around in life