She married George P. Mitchell, the founder of The Woodlands, in 1943, and the couple had 10 children and 23 grandchildren, according to the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation. She died Dec. 27, 2009, according to the foundation.
In addition to the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands, an outdoor amphitheater for live music and performances, Mitchell's legacy includes the foundation, which participates in sustainability-related grant-making programs in environmental topics, such as clean energy, land conservation and sustainability, according to the foundation website.
It also operates programs for Cook’s Branch Conservancy, Galveston and numerous other organizations, according to the foundation.
Mitchell's influence can also be seen in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center of the Arts at the University of Houston, the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and the George and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Library in The Woodlands.
In observing what would have been the 100th birthday of the philanthropist, the foundation remarked on her lasting effect on the arts, environment, education and social justice.
“It is the enduring legacy of Cynthia Woods Mitchell—our mother, grandmother and great-grandmother—that ignites our emotions and anchors our convictions as to why we do what we do,” said C. Grant Mitchell, chair of the foundation's board and one of the Mitchells' children, in a statement on the foundation website.
