Sylvia Taylor Zampa's Obituary
Sylvia Taylor Zampa was born on March 2, 1937, in Olean, Western New York State, to Arthur Beverly Taylor and Margaret Loftis Taylor. Growing up in nearby Houghton, she treasured her close-knit, small-town community but also seized life’s opportunities. Sylvia distinguished herself academically, graduating as valedictorian of her high school class. After earning a bachelor's degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, her ambitions then took her to Ann Arbor, where she completed a master’s degree at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and, with a degree in dental hygiene, she worked as a professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. While in Ann Arbor, she met Victor, a young architect. They married in 1968 and had two daughters, Kerry and Julie. A family vacation to the west coast unexpectedly inspired a new, lifelong adventure: Sylvia and Victor left Michigan and moved to San Diego in 1978, settling in the sunny foothills of Cowles Mountain in the eastern area of the city.
Sylvia reveled in motherhood, nurturing and championing her daughters at every opportunity, never missing a performance or award ceremony. As the girls grew, Sylvia found time to rediscover her own interests. She taught adult education classes for the local community college, food handling safety and health care classes for the city of San Diego, was active in community musical theater with her entire family and was a committed member of her Catholic parish. In her 70s, she found new purpose, proudly working with the San Diego Police as a Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol (RSVP) officer.
Around 1990, Sylvia and Victor became members of the Newman Center Catholic Community at UCSD, where they especially enjoyed interacting with the students in various activities, focusing primarily on the choirs. Just over two years ago, they relocated from the eastern foothills of San Diego to their friendly and cherished retirement community near UCSD, the Pacific Regent.
Sylvia’s sense of adventure endured throughout her life and was passed on to her daughters. Julie married Stuart Dwyer, a U.S. diplomat, and Sylvia visited them and her two beloved grandsons, Evan and Cameron, at every foreign post. Her world travels took her to the cobblestone streets of northern Europe, the boulangeries of Paris, the churches of Moscow, Victor’s birthplace of Malta, and her own mother’s ancestral county in Ireland, among other memorable places. Domestically, Sylvia enjoyed traveling where Kerry’s career took her, experiencing the hills of San Francisco, time with her extended family in Long Island, New York, the beauty of Washington, D.C., and most recently, she was happy to have Kerry nearby again in sunny San Diego. The opportunity to travel and be together as a family was a blessing, and often Sylvia, Victor, Kerry, and Julie’s family traveled and spent holidays together, creating truly special memories.
Sylvia’s enthusiastic spirit was mirrored by Victor, who not only took her to new places and together created new experiences, but also was capable of taking on any challenge with her as a truly committed teammate – any obstacle she came across, he also took on as his own, their 57 years of marriage modeling what it means and really takes to be long term partners.
Sylvia found community wherever she went and will be missed by her many friends and neighbors. She is survived by her devoted husband, Victor, her daughters Kerry Zampa and Julie Dwyer, her son-in-law Stuart Dwyer, and her grandsons Evan and Cameron Dwyer.
Service Information:
A funeral mass will be held at the Newman Center Catholic Community at UCSD, 4321 Eastgate Mall, San Diego, 92121, on Thursday, February 19, at 9:00 am PT. A reception celebrating Sylvia’s life will immediately follow at the adjacent Roetter Hall, from 10am - 12pm.
Alternatively, a live stream link will be published at https://www.tritoncatholic.org on the morning of February 19. If you are traveling from out of town, there are several hotels nearby in the 92121, 92122, and 92037 zip codes.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to your favorite charity in Sylvia’s name. For further questions, please email Kerry Zampa at [email protected].
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