11/26/2025
This is a public service message for the Newnam family and all who knew Lucinda (Cindy) Mermin: I received a message only yesterday from a probate attorney on Instagram that Lucinda Newnam Mermin, my mother, passed away on March 27, 2025. You can contact her executor of estate Justin Katz at the New York law office of Thalia Feilen. I also learned that my mother’s wife/partner of 40 years, Helen McDermott passed away in 2023. I’m posting this publically as there’s no information online and they both were estranged from their families.
On a personal note-
I’m annoyed I was notified so late but grateful I was found and contacted (it’s because of those public posts I was found.) If you know my story, it’s bittersweet to finally grieve after 38 years of “just maybe one day” and the hope that kept me tethered and unable to let go and accept. It feels like when a loved one goes missing and they finally find the missing body years later. With proof of death, the family gets the gift of grief and closure.
My PSA: please- honestly communicate with your family, loved ones and friends if you can’t be in a relationship with them for whatever the reason, even if it’s parent-child relationship. ‘Ghosting’ and gas-lighting is the cruelest, most cowardly thing you can do to another person. Take responsibility, take care of yourself first and also do unto others as they would to you 💕
Rest in Peace, Cindy. I wish I could have known your secrets and what you were running from. I hope you stop haunting me in my dreams, I’m exhausted.
