George Sykes
In Loving Memory
George Sykes
February 20th, 1935 - February 12th, 2025
A loving husband, father, teacher, and lifelong learner, George Sykes died peacefully at Edenwald Senior Living Community in Baltimore, MD. He was a longtime resident of Moss Creek and Sun City, SC, where he lived from 1997 to 2023. He is survived by his wife Linda, his sister Susan, his sons George and Jim, and his grandchildren George, Logan, Braiden, Londyn, Tyler, and Eva.
George was born in New York City, the son of George and Susan Sykes of Darien, Connecticut. He graduated from Williams College in 1957 and received a doctorate in education from Columbia University in 1973. He served as Education and Public Relations Director at the New-York Historical Society from 1959 and 1963. He married his wife Linda Silvestri in 1963.
In 1967, he began his 30-year career as a social studies teacher at Darien High School in Darien, Connecticut. During this time, he published articles in education journals and was chosen to be a participant in the National Council of Humanities three times for summer seminars at three different universities. He was selected by the Greek government in 1982 to join 25 professors and high school teachers for a summer tour of Greece. George helped organize special programs for Darien High School, including the humanities courses, and the International Baccalaureate program where he taught the required Theory of Knowledge course. He was also a tennis coach, winning a state championship.
After retiring in 1997, George and Linda moved to Hilton Head Island, SC, where George taught classes of adults in Lifelong Learning for over 15 years. He was vice president of the organization and a regular on the curriculum committee.
George and Linda loved to travel, especially through home exchanges to Europe. George was especially proud of his two boys, George who has a successful financial career in New York City, and Jim who is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Known for his colorful baseball caps, George carried books in tote bags everywhere he went, and his sons liked to make fun of him for being obsessed with Abraham Lincoln. In a twist of fate, George passed on Lincoln’s birthday.