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Caidynce Schwartz, 20, of Greenfield, died Monday April 10, 2023, in Iowa City. Celebration of Life services will be held 3 p.m. Sunday, April 16, 2023, at the Greenfield United Methodist Church. The family is encouraging everyone to wear purple in honor of Caidynce. Pastor Melinda Stonebraker will officiate the service. The family will greet friends immediately following the service Sunday in the fellowship hall with root beer floats and desserts being served. Lamb Funeral Home in Greenfield is in charge of the professional arrangements.
Memorials are to BRAIN HEALTH MATTERS http://brainhealthmatters.spiritsale.com/- memorials will be used to help spread awareness and fight for more effective treatments of brain health. Proceeds from sales at this website will go to the Caidynce Lynn Schwartz Memorial Fund. Online condolences may be left to the family at www.lambfuneralhomes.com.
Caidynce Lynn Schwartz was born Feb. 10, 2003, to Melissa Lynn (Willamson) Schwartz in Creston. She succumbed to the disease of depression on April 10, 2023, at the age of 20 years and 2 months. Caidynce lived with Melissa and Nick Buckley in Creston for the first two years of her life. After their separation, Melissa and Caidynce’s adventures began, leading them to live in several towns in Iowa as well as journeying throughout the Midwest and out to Colorado before eventually returning to Creston to be near family. They were two free spirits discovering the world together.
Caidynce was an inquisitive young girl and she soaked up the world around her. Caidynce was known by many nicknames in her family and by her friends. Some of them were: “Bug,” “Caidy-Bug,” “Caid,” “Kate” and “Doodle-Bug.”
In July 2008, Caidynce and Melissa met Sam Schwartz. By May 2009, Melissa and Sam were married and Caidynce was the flower girl. They made their home together in Greenfield. In March 2010, Caidynce excitedly welcomed younger sister Callissa KayAnne into the family. In June 2010, Sam adopted Caidynce and she legally became part of the Schwartz family. In February 2011, she welcomed brothers Keland James and Lyrick Joseph. Caidynce was the best big sister to all her siblings.
Caidynce did very well in school and was liked equally by her peers and teachers. Very quickly she discovered her voice and loved singing. Taking after her mother and grandpa Joe, she taught herself how to play the bass guitar. She also played the acoustic guitar, ukulele, mandolin, piano and any percussion instrument. She was so musically talented. One year she won the local competition for the Bill Riley Talent Search and played her ukulele and sang at the Iowa State Fair. She sang and acted in many school and community plays, dramas and musicals, as well as participated in small and large group speech competitions.
Caidynce loved to be outside. She enjoyed dancing in the rain and making mud pies. She liked camping, hiking, flying kites, playing disc golf, walking and running with the family dogs. She enjoyed playing T-ball, softball, volleyball, little cheer, cheerleading for football and cross country. Caidynce loved running and was an avid swimmer. She liked being at the farm, going deer hunting, taking a farm walk and driving the Ranger. She enjoyed rainbows, sunrises and sunsets. Caidynce loved to climb to the top of the hammock tree so others could send up anything she may have forgotten on the ground.
In summer 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Caidynce attended Southwestern Community College classes and took EMT courses during the school year, becoming a certified EMT. She graduated in the top half of her class in 2021 from Nodaway Valley High School.
Caidynce had a series of surgeries at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City due to hip issues. These surgeries developed a sense of intrigue in her, and she decided to major in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa.
Her first job was babysitting for her younger siblings and later other children. She was a lifeguard at the Greenfield Pool for two years in high school. After high school she was a safety specialist for two seasons at Girl Scout Camp Liberty in New Liberty. She most recently worked as a head lifeguard at the University of Iowa.
To know Caidynce was to know joy and fun. She never met a stranger, and her laugh was infectious. She often saw the good in others even when they didn’t see it themselves. Caidynce was, is and always will be a gift from God.
Caidynce was welcomed into heaven by the open arms of grandma Judy Schwartz, among many other great-grandparents and relatives.
Those that remain on earth are too many to name and will forever miss her. Immediate family includes Melissa and Sam Schwartz, Calli, Keland and Lyrick Schwartz, Joe and Lisa Williamson, Amanda, Payton, and Owen Davis. Patty and Tom Buckley, Nick Buckley, Arlene Schwartz, Leon Schwartz (Miram Lutz), Stephanie (Gregory Ennis), Miriel and Theo Ennis, Sara Schwartz (Mike Anderson) and Ruby and Karl Anderson.