For longtime Lido Isle resident Cindy Lightner, Newport Beach has always been home. Her roots in the community stretch back decades, shaped by family history, a spirit of adventure, and a deep love for the place she’s always returned to.

 

Cindy was born in San Luis Obispo, but her connection to Newport Beach began early. Her father served in the U.S. Navy and was stationed on an aircraft carrier that was famously struck by another naval ship in the fog off Catalina Island in July of 1960. A few years later, in 1963, Cindy’s family moved to Newport Beach when she was just one year old, settling near the Back Bay. After several Navy relocations, the family ultimately returned and put down permanent roots on Lido Isle in 1974.

 

Cindy grew up fully immersed in the Newport Beach community. She attended Horace Ensign Intermediate School and later graduated from Newport Harbor High School in 1980 before continuing her studies at Orange Coast College and San Diego State University.

 

Her career would eventually take her far beyond Newport’s shores. In 1988, Cindy began working as a flight attendant for American Airlines. Over the next 33 years, she built an exciting international career, often serving as an International Purser and traveling the globe. Though her job carried her to countless destinations, Newport Beach always remained her anchor.

 

In 1999, Cindy returned to her childhood home on Via Ithaca with her young son, Matt. Growing up on Lido Isle, Matt followed in his mother’s footsteps through local schools—St. Andrew’s Preschool, Newport Elementary, Ensign, and Newport Harbor High School, graduating in 2016.

 

Today, Matt continues building his life nearby. A graduate of the University of Arizona with a degree in Urban and Regional Development, he now works as Director at a real estate staffing agency while pursuing a Master’s degree in Real Estate at Chapman University.

 

Matt’s wife, Hannah, has also embraced life in Newport Beach. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Hannah attended Texas Tech University where she earned both her Bachelor’s degree in Advertising and a Master’s in Media and Communications. She now works as an Account Coordinator at a digital marketing agency.

 

Matt and Hannah first met during the pandemic at a New Year’s Eve party in Dallas. At the time, Matt was living and working in Indiana while Hannah was based in Dallas. The two dated long distance for a year before deciding to relocate together to Orange County in 2022.

 

The couple became engaged during a trip to Bruges, Belgium, in July 2024 and were married in September 2025 in a joyful celebration surrounded by family and friends. Their wedding held extra meaning for the family—it came just two months after Cindy underwent life-saving brain surgery.

 

For more than a decade, Cindy had struggled with unexplained symptoms including memory lapses, exhaustion, mood swings, and depression. Doctors initially attributed the changes to menopause. But during a trip to Italy with friends, one friend gently pointed out that something seemed wrong.

 

“One of my oldest friends pulled me aside and told me she knew something wasn’t right with me,” she recalls. “I was misplacing everything. I was sleeping more and eating less. I had lost my sense of taste. And the big one was that I was limping.”

 

Cindy began to realize the symptoms had grown impossible to ignore. Back home, she sought medical care at Hoag Hospital. Tests revealed a startling diagnosis: a 10-centimeter brain tumor impacting every area of her brain, including the frontal lobe that plays a critical role in regulating emotions and behavior.

 

She met with Ezequiel Goldschmidt, MD, a neurosurgeon at Hoag’s Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute and Hoag Family Cancer Institute. Removing the tumor would require a craniotomy, an intensive brain surgery that typically involves shaving part of a patient’s head. But Dr. Goldschmidt had a different idea.

 

Soon after joining Hoag, he created a new program called Styled for Surgery, made possible through philanthropic support and designed to help patients maintain their sense of identity during treatment. Instead of shaving large portions of a patient’s hair, the program pairs patients with a professional stylist who works alongside the surgeon to minimize hair removal and style the hair around the surgical site.

 

“Brain surgery can be incredibly personal and emotionally overwhelming,” Dr. Goldschmidt explains. “This program is designed with the understanding that how a patient feels about themselves matters deeply to their healing. By preserving their hair as much as possible and involving them in the process, we’re helping patients maintain their sense of identity, dignity, and confidence at a time when they need it most.”

 

Cindy became the very first patient to participate in the program. Working with stylist Loni Kohlmyer and Dr. Goldschmidt, her hair was carefully styled so the incision blended naturally into her hairstyle. “People who saw me afterward had no idea I had just had brain surgery,” Cindy recalls.

 

The surgery was successful, and doctors confirmed the tumor, though rare, was benign. Even more remarkable was Cindy’s recovery. “It felt like I had woken up from a very long sleep,” she says. “I had a ton of energy. I hadn’t felt that great in years.”

 

Today, Cindy is back to enjoying many of the things she loves most: spending time with Matt, Hannah, and her two dogs Maggie and Charlie, playing pickleball near her home on Lido Isle, traveling, and preparing for a brand-new role this summer as a grandmother.

 

Her life-saving experience has also inspired a new mission. The Lightner family has created an endowment to fund Hoag’s Styled for Surgery program permanently, and Cindy has pledged to match donations dollar-for-dollar. For Cindy, it’s a way to give back to the hospital that has cared for generations of her family, and to help other patients face brain surgery with dignity, confidence, and hope.

 

“Looking at where I was to where I am now,” Cindy says, “it feels like a miracle. And I am just so thankful.”