Sylvia Guillemette

Sylvia was born on March 18th, 1929, in Manchester, New Hampshire, to the late Sylvio and Eva Marcotte.

After some moving around between New Hampshire and Maine in childhood, Sylvia began her schooling at the Straw School. At that time in Manchester, Sylvia was taught half the day in French and the other half in English. After graduation, Sylvia, like many others in Manchester, found work in one of the many mills in town.

As the story goes, Sylvia met her late husband of 52 years, Roger, while simply walking into work. He held the door open for her and turned to his buddy and said, “I’m going to marry her one day!” Turns out, that man was Sylvia’s brother… Roger and Sylvia were married in 1955. A few years later, the whole family relocated to “The City of Trees”, Highland Park, Michigan, a small enclave of Detroit. There, their three children, Suzette, William, and Michelle, were born. Sylvia and Roger both found work at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and later Sylvia worked in the cafeteria at Chrysler-Highland Park.

Sylvia will always be remembered for her humor and her hilarious quick wit - she could put most standup comics to shame. But what some people may not remember is her service and care for her community. For years, Sylvia volunteered (alongside many lifelong friends) at Saint Benedict’s Roman Catholic Church in Highland Park. At St. Ben's, even after her children graduated, Sylvia was Women’s Club Treasurer, always volunteered at the annual Lemon Festival that supported the school, held hot dog sales, and helped with countless rummage sales. She even filled the role of school librarian for a time. Sylvia and Roger, together served many through their work at St. Ben’s, but that wasn’t the end. Through the Society of St.Vincent de Paul, she and Roger assembled and delivered hundreds of food baskets over the years. She also participated in the “Mother’s March” for the March of Dimes, going door-to-door collecting funds, and volunteered hundreds of hours at the Helen Fields Center, from where her daughter Michelle graduated.

She was preceded in death by her husband Roger and daughter Michelle; her parents Sylvio and Eva; her siblings George, Esther, Edward, Olive, Richard, and Maureen.

Sylvia is survived by her daughter Suzette (Mike) Katopodes, and her son William ‘Bill’ (Cindy) Guillemette; her grandchildren Renée (Melanie) LaPointe, John (Ashleigh) LaPointe, Danielle (Tim) Darden, Michael Katopodes, and Nicholas Guillemette; great-grandchildren Justin, Andrea, John, Reagan, Timothy, Christopher; and one newest addition to the family, her great-great-granddaughter Riley. She is called “Matante” (aunt) by many nieces and nephews scattered across the country. She is also survived by her beloved sisters and brothers-in-law who still reside “back home” in New Hampshire.

Sylvia is also remembered through her various collections. When going over to Sylvia’s, you could never be bored, with all of the fascinating things that she had to look at - beautiful purses, delicate blue glass, detailed angel statues, sparkling jewelry, and of course…Frogs, frogs, frogs!

When we remember Sylvia, let’s remember her as the life of the party! Any party or gathering wouldn’t be complete without her singing “Alouette, Gentille Alouette” and getting her family and friends, whom she loved so dearly, to sing along. “Et le bec, Et la tête, Et le nez, OHHHHHHH”

Sylvia’s memorial will be held at A.H. Peter’s Funeral Home in Warren, MI., on Friday March 27th, 2026, 10AM to 2PM, with a service at 2PM at the funeral home.

To Sylvia, a woman who devoted her life to caring for others and who taught us all so much.

We love you and will never forget the light you brought to all of us.

For now, we’ll say au revoir.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Sylvia's memory are appreciated to the American Cancer Society https://www.cancer.org/