Wolcott, Sylvia 'Mae'

Sylvia “Mae” Wolcott, 100, went to be with her Lord on Nov. 20, 2009. She died of old age, with complications of dementia.

She was born May 7, 1909, near Reliance, S.D., to Charles and Mary House, the third of seven children, who all preceded her in death. After graduation from Reliance High School in 1927, she obtained a teaching certificate and taught two years in a rural school near Hamill, S.D., after which she married Orville Wolcott in 1931. Their son, Lauren, was born in 1933. In 1945, they went for a year to the Houston Mission in Kentucky, where Mae taught grades 1-4 and her husband worked in maintenance. They then went to Randleman, N.C., where they worked for the Pilgrim Tract Society. In 1949, they moved to Phoenix, Ariz. Mae, Orville and Lauren were participants in the formation of the Phoenix Reformed Presbyterian Church. Mae worked for 25 years at Goldwater's Department Store, where she advanced to head the gift-wrapping department through her artistic talents.

Her husband, Orville, passed away in February 1988. Mae continued her creative life in Phoenix until 2000, when at the age 91, she moved to Cedar Rapids to live with her son, Lauren, and his wife, Sandra. During her years in Cedar Rapids she had attended Grace Brethren Church.

She is survived by her son, Lauren, his wife, Sandra, half brother, Alden, and four sisters-in-law, Esther, Virginia, Linda and Eleanor.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 28, at Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories. The Rev. Gary Austin and the Rev. John Monger will officiate. Friends may call at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday. There also will be services at a later date in Chamberlain, S.D., with burial at the Reliance, S.D., Cemetery.

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