Sylvia K. (King) Whitney

Sylvia (King) Whitney, age 95, passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, surrounded by her loving family. A visitation celebrating her life will be held on Monday June 10, 2024, from 4 to 7 PM in the MacDonald Rockwell & MacDonald Funeral Home, 270 Main St., Watertown, MA. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. A private interment will be held at the MA National Cemetery in Bourne.

Sylvia Yvonne Therese King Whitney was born in Watertown, MA on November 2, 1928, to the late William & Annie (Daniels) King and was the youngest of eight children (Sonny, Flora, Rose, Beatrice, Anna, Bill, and Rita). Her mother and father, born in Nova Scotia, spoke Canadian French at home and Sylvia was proud of her family’s French heritage. She loved to share words, phrases, and her perfect imitation of her father’s accent with her friends and family. She would also share her family’s history, such as how they were descended from Huguenots that fled France in the 1700s, and how her family’s last name was originally “Roi” but was anglicized to either “King” or “Roy” when they moved to the United States. She loved learning about history and language in general and, even into her 90s, she would enthusiastically email or text when she learned a new word and its etymology.

Throughout her life, Sylvia was passionate about music and dance. She had fond memories of hearing her brother Bill playing violin and piano in their family’s living room, and many Christmas holiday parties would involve her and her sisters singing carols while Bill accompanied them on piano. She had a wonderful singing voice and imparted her love and knowledge of singing to her daughter and granddaughters. She was also a talented dancer (starting at the age of 10) and she danced for the Old Sailor’s Home, for the USO, at Otis Air Force Base, and in Framingham, where wounded soldiers were treated and cared for after World War II. Her singing, dancing, and sharp sense of humor brought joy and brightness wherever she went.

Sylvia attended Watertown High School (class of 1946), where she met her late husband Robert J. Whitney, to whom she was married for 64 years until his passing in 2015. She graduated from Boston University and the Katharine Gibbs School and worked as a secretary (including informally for Robert’s printing business). She and Robert were staples of the Watertown community, and Sylvia dedicated much of her time to community and charitable organizations over the years, most notably the Mount Auburn Auxiliary and the Belmont Women’s Club. She was also instrumental in helping Robert maintain the Whitney’s Candies tradition of making fudge every Christmas and fudge sauce for any occasion. She was a talented baker in her own right and was known for her apple and blueberry pies. After Robert’s passing, Sylvia, still young at heart, declined to go to events at the senior center and instead found a group of likeminded friends at her local Watertown and Belmont “Stahbucks.”

Sylvia also loved the Nyes Neck community in North Falmouth on Cape Cod, where she and her family have returned every summer for the last 53 years. Down the Cape, she could be seen riding to and from the beach in her golf cart, playing cards on the back deck, and feeding her “pet” seagull Salty. In fact, she was a friend to all backyard critters and fed not only the usual songbirds and rabbits but also foxes, possums, raccoons, skunks, and toads (and it is no surprise that she was a favorite among the family dogs).

Sylvia will be greatly missed by her family and friends. She is survived by her daughter, Jacqueline Whitney Halas (husband Paul Halas), her granddaughters Christie Musket (fiancé Christian Mott) and Hayley Musket, her nephew Curtis Whitney, her niece Paula Fasick, and many extended family members. 

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Sylvia’s memory may be made to Mount Auburn Hospital Attn: Mount Auburn Auxiliary, Office of Philanthropy 529 Main St. 4th Floor Charlestown MA 02129 or at www.mountauburnhospital.org/giving

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