The Matriarch who purchased The Ketcham House to plant roots in the USA and create a future for her family.

Sylvia was an avid reader who read many of the works of the "great" English and American masters, and became a great fan of the American novelist, Danielle Steele, the late 1980's. As a child, she would often be found up in a tree reading a book rather than doing her chores, according to her sister and cousin.

Sylvia enjoyed crochet, other crafts, family time and games such as progressive rummy, and was a fanatic about plants and gardening.

Sylvia enjoyed traveling and took advantage of every opportunity to see the world. Her initial travels took her to several countries in the Caribbean including Cuba, the Grand Cayman Islands and Bahamas. With family and nursing colleagues she ventured all over Europe (including France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway), across Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales), various part of Canada (Vancouver, Ontario, Quebec (Old Quebec City) and many states in the USA Seattle (Washington state), Indiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Nevada, Hawaii, California, Texas, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Arizona (Grand Canyon), Mississippi, Georgia, West Virginia and more. After retirement, Sylvia embarked on frequent cruise excursions which took her all over the Caribbean, Central and South America.