The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota*

Obituaries for Catherine Sylvester, Hettie Sylvester and Ethel Sylvester

May 29, 1942 - April 12, 1979

PAGE 225

Catherine Sylvester also of Detroit.

1945

January 5, 1945-

Mrs. Catherine Sylvester in Detroit, Mich. Passed Away on December 20
Mrs. Catherine M. Sylvester died very suddenly on December 20 at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Lloyd V. Jewell of Detroit, Mich. Her death was due to a stroke. She had completely recovered from two major operations which she had undergone in the past year and her death came very unexpectedly.
Mrs. Sylvester has made her home with her daughter, Marion, and family since the death of her husband, George F. Sylvester in 1924. They have lived in Detroit for the past 16 years.
Catherine M. Whilt was born in Benton Co. in 1869, the first white child born in that county. She was married to George Franklin Sylvester on January 1, 1886. After her marriage she took up and learned the art of telegraphy under her husband, who was the station agent at Milaca, completely handling the business pertaining to 30 trains a day. In 1897 they moved to Plainview where Mr. Sylvester became associated with his brother Edwin in the Plainview Bank.
Five children were born to them: Leon C., Anna S., Beatrice, Katherine S., and Marion F. Surviving are two daughters, Katherine S. of Chicago and Marion F. Jewell, and 2 sons-in-law Rodney J. Baker, husband of the late Anna S. Sylvester and Lloyd V. Jewell, husband of Marion and two grandchildren William S. Jewell and Kathe Lee Jewell.

November 9, 1945-

Mrs. Hettie Sylvester Buried Here Tuesday
The body of Mrs. Hettie Sylvester, who died Saturday in Minneapolis, was sent to Plainview for burial on Tuesday.
Mrs. Sylvester was born at St. Lawrence, N.Y. April 6, 1863 and came to Plainview when a small child. On November 22, 1885 she became the wife of Edwin L. Sylvester. She was prominent in church and lodge work and was a charter member of the Travelers Club. The family left Plainview about 1924 and for some time she has been a resident of the Soldiers Home in Minneapolis.

1979

April 12, 1979-

Mrs. Ethel Sylvester, 86
Mrs. Ethel Sylvester of Plainview, a former Plainview practical nurse and telephone operator, died Saturday April 8 in the nursing home of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Wabasha.
The former Ethel Arnold, she was born December 14, 1892 in Brownsdale, Minnesota and reared in St. Charles. She married Ray Nunamaker in 1912 and they were later divorced. In 1923 she married Park Sylvester and he died in 1933. She was employed as a telephone operator in Plainview for 18 years and also was a practical nurse in Plainview for most of her life.
Survivors include a son, Kenneth Nunamaker of Chino, California, 2 step daughters Mrs. Alfred Wood of Plainview and Elizabeth Nunamaker of Wabasha, 3 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, a sister Mrs. Claude (Carrie) Crary of Plainview and a brother Lloyd Arnold of Wabasha. She was also preceded in death by a son and 2 sisters. The funeral was held Tuesday April 10 at Plainview Church of Christ, with Roger Arnett officiating. Burial was in Greenwood Cemetery in Plainview.

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* SOURCE: Manzow, Ron (compiler), "The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota - a collection of information taken from the Plainview News, other newspapers, letters, and diaries beginning in 1884": Plainview Area History Center, 40 4th St. S.W., Plainview, MN 55964. Compiled in 2001.

NOTE: from Ron Manzow, December 2001: "Feel free to reproduce the pages for anyone who wants a copy. It was compiled to be shared... All I ask is that they consider sending a check to the [Plainview Area] History Center to help us out. That should be enough."