Sylvia L. Wicktor's Obituary
At 9:15 on the morning, October 30th, Sylvia L. Wicktor passed away in her sleep at St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg. She was 88 years old. As she did so often, Sylvia took charge and made sure that her children had the opportunity to be with her and at a time of her choosing. Only then did she allow her heart to stop and for her spirit to travel on to heaven!
Sylvia is beginning to and will be spending her eternal life in heaven with her God, her parents John G. Tatar and Sylvia Tatar-Williams and her sister Aurelia Ahern, along with her uncle George Codrea. Surviving her are her three children and three grandchildren Gregg, Tim and his daughters Julia and Olivia, and Lisa and her daughter Meghan.
As a young girl, Sylvia enjoyed swimming and going to Detroit Tiger baseball games with her Uncle George and sister. After graduating from high school, she enrolled and attended Michigan State University. After two years and against her parents’ wishes, the independent and free spirit transferred to the University of Southern California and lived in Hermosa Beach. At some point thereafter her education and lifestyle in California came to an end as her old-world father drove to Hermosa Beach and brought her back to Detroit.
It was here that she married Charles R. Wicktor and together they returned to California, where she had her first child, Gregg. Less than a year after the birth, the couple returned to Michigan where they soon began a journey which would find them living in many places. After a short time back in Michigan the couple left for Washington D. C., Sylvia would give birth to her twins, Tim, and Lisa here. For the next seven years, the family would hopscotch across the northeast and eventually end up in Rochester, New York, the location of her sister and her family.
After four years in the suburb town of Penfield, Sylvia and her sister would lay the foundation for strong bonds and happy memories with their cousins. She and “Chuck” would eventually divorce. So, being strong willed and determined, Sylvia left the north for Cape Coral, Florida, the small but rapidly growing town where her mother was living alone. John, her husband passed away in 1969. She would live with her mother for two years and cement Cape Coral as the family home!
Upon arriving in Cape Coral, Sylvia began working in the new Caloosa Middle school as a kitchen worker and her three children would begin classes in their new school as well. This would lead to a fortuitous meeting with a particular assistant principal named Ida S. Baker. Mrs. Baker urged Sylvia to go back to school and get her college degree. Taking this advice,
would lead to another great opportunity down the road but in the meantime, she worked very hard until she had indeed earned that college degree.
At the same time, Sylvia would also get her children involved in many athletic sports where she became part of a small but tightknit group of people who also came to Cape Coral with their children. She would serve on the boards of many of the sports teams her children played for, Pop Warner football, Babe Ruth baseball, The Hurricanes soccer team, to name a few. And it was here that many lifelong friendships began and were still in place upon her death.
Sylvia continued working hard, sometimes three jobs at the same time. Her goal was to save enough money to make a down payment to purchase a house for herself and her three children, and in 1973 she did just that!
In 1978, while working at the old Regional Southwest Hospital as the kitchen manager and dietician Sylvia got a call from Mrs. Ida S. Baker who was to become the first principal at the new Cape Coral High School. She had met and worked with Mrs. Baker while working at Caloosa Middle School several years prior. Learning that Sylvia had earned her degree, Mrs. Baker offered her the position of cafeteria manager, a position she held for 19 years, until her retirement in 1997.
In retirement and in the year 2006, Sylvia moved to Sun City Center in order to be closer to her children and grandchildren, where she really took on the persona of Nana, grandmother! Eventually the years caught up with the hardworking woman and the onset of dementia quickly took its toll but all the while and with her stubbornness, she fought gallantly and bravely right up to the last beat of her heart!
Sylvia or Mom, or Ms. Wicktor to her students, touched many, many lives and is remembered as being kind, thoughtful, and caring. Sylvia is already missed but she will never be forgotten and she shall be forever loved! God bless you Mom and thank you for a lifetime of lessons learned and great times together as a family!
Immediate funeral ceremonies are private and will be open only to Sylvia's family due to the ongoing pandemic. At the conclusion of these services, she will be laid to rest at the Mausoleum located in the Garden of Serenity at Memorial Gardens Cemetery, 1589 Colonial Boulevard, Fort Myers, FL 33907, (239) 936-0555. The family is planning a future Celebration of Life for Sylvia which will take place when conditions improve and gatherings are again being conducted. Please check with a family member or back here for more information concerning this service which will be posted as soon as further information becomes available.
To share a story or photo, leave a tribute or to offer condolences to the family at this difficult time please visit Sylvia's memorial webpage located at www.fortmyersmemorial.com and sign her guestbook,
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