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Sharing Memories with Sylvia LeClair

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Tuesday June 12, 2012

By Melissa Brown

In an old farm house out in Ferrisburgh lives a woman who describes her life as “a pretty good life”. Her family describes her as a “good woman and an excellent cook.” She takes nothing for granted and lives a modest life full of love and faith.

Born in Middlebury on April 29, 1940, Sylvia LeClair grew up in Hinesburg with her family. She attended elementary school and high school in the same building in Hinesburg before CVU was built. “There were a total of 13 people in my graduating class.”

As a young child, Sylvia remembers when the end of World War Two. “It was a scary time for little kids.” She remembers the sirens going off, church bells ringing, and people running around screaming and crying. “I had no idea what was going on.”

After high school, Sylvia went to work for a family in South Burlington, taking care of their two children and their home. She made $15 a week doing this. She remembers a gallon of gas being $.25, and a loaf of bread being $.10. “A person made less back then, but things were cheaper back then too.”
Sylvia met and had 6 children, all girls, with her first husband. Then, in 1976, she married her second husband, Charles “PeeWee” LeClair, and they lived in the farm house that she still lives in today.

Sylvia has held a variety of employment in her lifetime. A good portion of her work experience was in child care, which allowed her to be at home with her own children.  In 1965, Sylvia got a job at a sewing shop. Then she got a job in the Marble Works plaza. Then she got a job working at Drake and Smith, where she made pinewood furniture. “Work was really scare back then, in the late 60s and early 70s.” During this time she went back to school at the career center in Middlebury for nurse education training. This led her to a job at a nursing home in the Vergennes area. In 1977, Sylvia got a job at Simmon’s, now Goodrich in Vergennes. She worked there for 12 years until a layoff in 1989. She finished out her days in the work force as a parking attendant at Middlebury High School. She retired in 2008.

“Now I do whatever I want!” comments Sylvia with a smile. She spends her days visiting friends or family, or just puttering around the house taking care of anything that needs to be done. Every Sunday Sylvia goes to church, and she is a member of the church treasury. Sylvia sees the aging process as something unavoidable. “It’s a normal process, it just makes me angry that I can’t do all the things that I used to do.” Her advice to others about the aging process? “Take care of yourself and enjoy life.” Sylvia finds joy in the simple things in life, like cooking and baking, and spending time with her family. A life full of ups and down has made Sylvia a role model for all. Love, faith, and a little home cooking will bring everything together at the end of the day.

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