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Submitted: 7/14/14 • Approved: 7/15/14 • Last Updated: 7/18/14 • R1021938-G1021936-S3
Thomas
Jan 27,1929-Aug 15,2001
Thomas Raleigh Sylvester, 72, of Blytheville, Ark., died Wednesday, August 15, 2001, in Memphis.
Born January 27, 1929, in Blytheville, he was a lifelong resident of Blytheville and the proprietor of Franklin Press. Mr. Sylvester was also a lifelong member of the First Christian Church, where he was past chairman of the board of elders and deacons, as well as serving as a deacon and elder.
He graduated from Arkansas State College with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and was a 50-year member of Sigma Pi fraternity. Mr. Sylvester was an Army veteran with the rank of first lieutenant.
He was a past president of the Blytheville Rotary Club, from which he was a recipient of the Paul Harris Award.
He was also past president of the Base Community Council, a past president and the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award and the Person of the Year Award for two years of the Air Force Association, a past president and board member of the Northeast Arkansas District Fair Association/Mississippi County, a member of the City Planning Commission, a Shriner and a 32nd Degree Mason.
Mr. Sylvester was preceded in death by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Raleigh Sylvester.
He leaves his wife, Mary McKinney Sylvester of Blytheville; One son, Thomas Alan Sylvester and his wife, Mary Ellen, of Cary, N.C.; Three daughters: Sondra Tucker of Memphis, Susan Zimmerman and her husbnd, Brian, of Denver, Colo., and Gail Mahoney and her husband, John, of Chicago; A son-in-law, Bill Shelden of Port Arthur, Tex.; One brother, David Sylvester and his wife, Mary Margaret, of Ponca City, Okla; and Eight grandchildren.
Funeral services for Mr. Sylvester were held at 11 a.m., Saturday, August 18, at the First Christian Church in Blytheville with Dr. Tommy J. Carney officiating.
Burial was at the Elmwood Cemetery in Blytheville with Roller-Swift Funeral Home of Osceola, Ark., in charge.
Mary
Jan 24,1933-May 26,2008
Photo courtesy of Debbie Carey
Contributed on 7/14/14 by bill060
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Record #: 1021938