4 Winds
Text by
V. B. Bandjunis
Works by
Cynthia Bandjunis
V. B. Bandjunis (1930-2016) graduated from the University of Maryland, and was commissioned in the Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps. After serving 8 years, he returned to Maryland and civilian life where he earned his Master of Science degree from George Washington University. He worked for the Navy as a civilian engineer, and in the Pentagon for the Secretary of Defense in the Logistics directorate. After retiring in 1985, Bandjunis relocated to Mathews County where he served on the Planning Commission and as an election official. Bandjunis, recalled by the Secretary of Defense, was a staff member of the first Base Realignments and Closure Commission that was formed in 1988. He was a genealogist and a historian, and published a history of the Navy’s base at Diego Garcia. An amateur archeologist, Bandjunis documented the existence of a 10,000 year old Indian site in Mathews County. He combined his interest in archaeology and the arts by creating bowls from the many pottery sherds he found—creating new art and a way to envision the original works made by ancient hands.
Cynthia Bandjunis (1934-2005) began painting in 1971. A graduate of Whidden Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, she worked as an emergency room nurse. Her many interests including sewing, being a women's rights activist and politics, managing the campaigns of several local candidates and attending the Democratic National Convention as a delegate. After retiring, Bandjunis relocated to Mathews County where she was a music director at the Francis de Sales Church in Mathews, at the Blessed Sacrament Church in West Point, and the musician at the Mathews Baptist Church. Her greatest talent was in music. "I always hear music," she often said. Bandjunis formed and directed the Celebration Singers, and was President of the Mathews Music Study Club.