Sylvia Hochscheid
April 7, 1928-Nov. 24, 2024
Raleigh, North Carolina
Submitted by Anita Miller

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Sylvia Hochscheid in November, 2024. She was “96 and a half,” she would say! Born in Hamilton, Ohio, she longed to travel the world and sought adventure and service. She lived in and traveled around the United States, as well as Africa and South America. She traveled the world making friends, playing piano and gathering wonderful memories.

Sylvia was the apple of her family’s eye. She was a beautiful, intelligent and gifted child who was devoted to her mother as well as all her aunts, uncles and cousins.

Sylvia achieved degrees at Case Western Reserve, Columbia and Vanderbilt and became a dedicated Speech and Hearing therapist and teacher. Once settled in New York while at Columbia, she met Bob.

His work as an engineer took them all over the world. They were first assigned to South Africa. She made life-long friends in Johannesburg. In addition to wide travel in the continent, she worked in a clinic in Soweto working with patients with acquired hearing losses. She and Bob were blessed with their first two children - twins! Their next assignment took them to Chile where she enjoyed amazing travel, more friends and two more children.

Upon returning to the United States they eventually settled in Palo Alto. Life never slowed down. Bob travelled the world with his work. Sylvia would join him in his travels, but not nearly enough, she would later regret. She focused on her family, home and partnering with Bob to support his career.

Sylvia served in many roles in several local and national groups. She volunteered on the altar guild of St. Mark's Epicopal Church, a den mother of the Webelos/Scouts in Los Altos, enthusiastically supported the local chapters of the WAAIME (for philanthropic work with mining engineering scholarships), The Republican Women of Palo Alto, the Peninsula Volunteers (helping seniors remain vibrant while lightening the load for their caregivers), The Clef Hangers of Palo Alto (a choral group of the Junior League), among many other groups.

Once her children started school, she went back to teaching. Sylvia taught Lip Reading throughout the Peninsula to seniors with acquired hearing loss for many years. In addition to providing her students with renewed skills to communicate with their friends and families, she made dear friends with them. There was equal parts love, respect, and devotion between Sylvia and all her students.

Sylvia never lost her love of the piano and music. She was playing church services at the age of five! She entertained all with her amazing memory and skills playing for parties, choral groups, soloists, and piano duets! She played for more than 20 years for the Veterans Administration in Menlo Park and Palo Alto for the Vietnam Vets Chorus, Sunday services for both the Catholic and Protestant faithful, as well as other programs. She continued to play for all kinds of events at her Senior apartment until she was 94. She kept a notebook FULL of all the songs she knew! She was able to transpose music on the fly or pick up a song with a short listen or a reminder of the lyrics. She delighted so many with her cheerful smile and enthusiastic performances!

Sylvia was an avid gardener and chef. Her South African friends inspired her love of flowers and gardening. Her gardens were her joy. She knew every plant, flower, tree and shrub! She was inspired by Julia Child and The Joy of Cooking as well. “If you can read, you can cook!” she would quote Julia. Her dinner parties were events that she loved sharing with friends and family. She never missed any detail.

After Bob passed, Sylvia began to travel more. Carpe Diem! She enjoyed every adventure in life. She took cruises all around the world, but did not limit her adventures to the sea. She traveled extensively on every continent, including a harrowing adventure on the Silk Road! Nothing dissuaded her! But as the years rolled along she eventually slowed down. She never lost her love for her family, friends, music, travel and gardening. She was planning for her 100th birthday!

Sylvia delighted everyone she met. In her later years her beauty shone with her mischievous smile, twinkling eyes and beautiful silver-white hair. She was always ready to laugh or share something interesting she saw or read.

She was preceded by her husband Bob, and survived by all her children: John, Peter, Paul, and Anita; her grandchildren, Anna Marie, Niki and Alex; and her great-grandchildren Weston and Emma.

Sylvia is at rest together with Bob at Alta Mesa in Palo Alto.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made to The Peninsula Volunteers ( https://1pvi.org/donate/ ) in her name.

Tags: arts/media, teacher/educator, public service