Mrs. Sylvie Desrochers Venne

Sylvie Desrochers Venne, age 54, of Alexandria Virginia passed away peacefully on Holy Thursday April 2, 2015 at Virginia Hospital Center after a year-long courageous battle with cancer, with her husband of 28 years and her two daughters at her side. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on July 25, 1960, Sylvie grew up attending English schools in Montreal with her brother and two sisters. Sylvie then studied at McGill University, where she graduated with Distinction and obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Modern Languages. Sylvie worked in the Travel & Tourism industry before marrying her husband, Daniel Victor Venne, a U. S. Coast Guard officer, on December 6, 1986 in Montreal. Sylvie accompanied her husband during his Coast Guard service while he was stationed in Washington, DC and then in Norfolk, Virginia, where she worked in the Hotel & Hospitality industry. After three years in Norfolk, Sylvie & Dan moved to Monterey, California where Sylvie worked as a hostess at a Bed & Breakfast Hotel in Pacific Grove, California. Sylvie and Dan then returned to Virginia where Sylvie began a 21-year career with the Hilton Embassy Suites Hotel in Old Towne Alexandria, working in a variety of department management positions until moving to the position of Administrative Assistant to the General Manager, while raising two children, until she took ill. Sylvie very much enjoyed her hospitality career as well as her professional and personal travels to France, Venezuela, Cuba, Hawaii, Barbados, Bahamas, Dominican Republic and Mexico, but she mostly cherished the times that she and her husband spent with their two adorable daughters. Sylvie was devoted to her family and friends and loved to cook, host and entertain. Sylvie was a dual citizen of Canada and the U.S. and was a devout Catholic which provided much comfort to her during her illness. Sylvie was also an avid skier, spoke five languages, enjoyed reading, gardening, traveling and dancing, deftly and quickly took to learning archery, and was a certified advanced scuba diver. Sylvie is survived by her husband Daniel Victor Venne, daughters Kathryn Angele Venne and Alyssa Anne Venne, her mother Angele Perras, her brother Michel Desrochers and his wife Sylvie Deslongchamps, her sister Celine Desrochers and her husband Gerald Dion, and her sister Louise Desrochers, as well as an Aunt and many cousins, nieces and nephews in Canada. Sylvie was well loved and will be greatly missed. Sylvie is predeceased by her father Fernand Desrochers who she was extremely close to. Second only to her family, her enduring friends Josee Levesque and Jenny Uresti were closest to her heart. Family and friends gathered in memory of Sylvie at Demaine Funeral Home in Old Towne Alexandria Virginia for viewing services on Wednesday April 8, 2015. Funeral services were held at the Woodlawn Chapel of the Fort Belvoir Catholc Parish at Fort Belvoir, Virginia on Thursday April 9, 2015. Interment services were held at Quantico National Cemetery in Triangle, Virginia on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, with her final resting site to be with her husband at a future date at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. Donations may be made in Sylvie's name to the Robert E. Lee Oncology Unit of the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Virginia through the Virginia Hospital Center Foundation 1701 N George Mason Drive Arlington, Virginia 22205 via link from the website http://www.virginiahospitalcenter.com.