Obituary of Sylvia Anne Brown

It is with heavy hearts that her family announces the death of Sylvia Anne Brown at University Hospital in London on January 2, 2025, after a brief illness, at the age of 85.

A loving wife and supportive mother, she is survived by her husband, James, and sons Michael (Marne McGrath) and Daniel (Amanda Taccone). She will also be greatly missed by her brothers Ronald, Douglas and Gordon Lockyer and their families, as well as her many nieces, nephews, extended family, friends and in-laws.

Sylvia was an avid teacher, traveller and birdwatcher. 

She devoted many years to working as an educator, which she combined with her love of travel. She trekked around the world with her husband of 62 years, and together they lived as far afield as England, Nigeria, Ghana, Alberta and Quebec before settling in Coldstream in Southwestern Ontario.

Her decades of adventuring included jaunts by plane, train, ship, and Volkswagen camper vans across Alaska, Australia, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East.

She was the original rolling stone at a time when international travel wasn’t commonplace. Along the way, she raised two boys and picked up her MBA. She and James were especially good at finding activities they could do together, one of them being birding. She took great joy in spotting rare species.

If you would like to honour Sylvia’s memory, there are many ways to do so. Take a trip to another continent and broaden your horizons. Read a book (especially one by a Canadian author). Play tennis or jog. Get an advanced university degree. Tend to your garden. Be a mentor and role model who gives practical advice. Or be the best friend your children can have.

Cremation has taken place. A memorial service at Denning’s of Strathroy will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2025, at 11am.

Details are to come for a celebration of life that her family plans to hold this summer on what would have been Sylvia’s 86th birthday, Saturday, August 9, 2025.

Online condolences may be made at www.strathroyfuneralhome.com