Cynthia E. Stenquist
Cynthia E. Stenquist
Cynthia E. Stenquist, a loving wife, mother, and grandmother, passed away on April 13, 2023, at the age of 85 in her home in SaddleBrooke.
Cynthia E. Stenquist was born in 1937 in Chicago, Ill., to Edna and Robert Powdrell. She was an only child. She moved several times in her childhood before her family settled in Minneapolis when she was a teenager.
At around the age of 20, she met Donald Stenquist who was the love of her life. Within a few years, they had started a family, complete with three children. As a family, they enjoyed golf, basketball, football, and card games, especially bridge. Playing golf and bridge was her passion. She shared it with her husband, children, and friends. Being a kind and dependable mother was of the utmost importance to Cynthia Stenquist, and she certainly did not disappoint when it came to wholeheartedly loving her family.
Cynthia Stenquist will join her husband in heaven and will leave behind three children: Daniel Stenquist, Robert (Danielle) Stenquist, and Patricia (Todd) Howland. Cynthia Stenquist is survived by her five grandchildren: Haley Stenquist (Tyler), Catherine Quinn, Brooke (Tony) Miller, Elizabeth Grube, and Rob Stenquist. She also had one great-grandchild (with more on the way). Her entire family will forever be touched by this amazing woman.
The Celebration of Life will be a small, family gathering celebrating her life. The family plans a small, private farewell, followed by dinner to celebrate her life. Please send condolences to the family home in SaddleBrooke for the family.
Charles Gilbert Thiel
Charles Gilbert Thiel
Charles Gilbert Thiel, 94, a 20-year resident of SaddleBrooke, formerly of Maplewood, Minn., passed away on March 10, 2023. Charles grew up in Summerland, Calif., just outside of Santa Barbara. During high school, Charlie worked at Westin’s Camera Shop in Santa Barbara and subsequently served in the U.S. Army Air Corps as a photographer while stationed in Japan. After his military deployment, he decided to pursue the field of chemistry. He attended the University of California Santa Barbara and graduated in 1954 with a B.A. in chemistry. Upon graduation, he joined Riker Laboratories. There he led a storied 46-year career that revolutionized inhalation drug delivery, rising to Division Scientist in what later became the Drug Delivery Systems Division of 3M Pharmaceuticals.
Charlie was joint inventor of the first pressurized metered dose inhaler (pMDI), which was developed by a small team at Riker Laboratories in 1956 to treat asthma. He changed the inhaler formulation design from one using 50 percent alcohol (which burned patients’ nostrils when administered as a nasal spray) to one using an innovative suspension of the medication in a liquefied gas propellant—a design still used worldwide today. His passion for high-speed photography remarkably gave insight into the behavior of aerosol sprays imperative to the invention.
The invention of the MDI revolutionized the field of respiratory drug delivery, and Charlie is a legend in this field. His critical contributions to the development of MDIs dramatically improved the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people and have saved countless lives. Charlie’s dedication to the field was made evident by his continued contributions to the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) long past his retirement.
Charlie will be remembered for his pioneering and innovative spirit, as well as his passions for storytelling, photography, and science, especially the ability of science to improve the lives of others. He had a great sense of humor, loved his family, the ocean, history, and had a curiosity about everything. Charlie is predeceased by his parents, sisters, and a great-granddaughter. He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 36 years, Carol; three children; four stepchildren; 11 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. At his request, his ashes will be scattered in the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara.