Sylvia "Polly" Sisson Hart

Polly Hart passed away peacefully on Tuesday, the 23rd of October 2018, at the age of 87. Polly was a devoted wife, daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She was born in 1930 to Ruth and Walter Coffin Sisson. She grew up in Potsdam, NY, part of a family that owned and operated The Racquette River Paper Company and the A. Sherman Lumber Company. Some of her favorite memories included gatherings at the family’s Hillview Farm, where four generations of Wings and Sissons attended Thanksgiving celebrations.

Polly graduated from Rogers Hall School for Girls in Lowell, Massachusetts where she was captain of numerous athletic teams including softball. Polly went on to Simmons College on the Fenway in Boston, Massachusetts where she graduated in 1952. That same summer she married Thomas Frederick Hart. Since Thomas “Tom” was a geologist for Shell Oil Company, he and Polly moved many times before settling in Houston, TX. They joined the Houston Racquet Club where Polly played tennis and bridge as part of the Women’s Association. Polly was also a charter member of Sweet Adelines Inc. for thirty years singing in the award-winning Houston Horizon chorus and quartets that competed internationally.

One of Polly’s greatest loves was her cottage at Oak Point located on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York. The cottage was built by her grandfather in 1920 and to this day is shared by the many generations of her family and the families of her siblings. The cottage at Oak Point holds almost a century of memories, traditions, and togetherness of those that Polly knew and loved.

Polly lost Tom, her husband and best friend, too early in 1996. She is survived by her three children and their spouses, Holly and Gary Miller, Tommy Jr. and Carol Hart, Sylvia Wagner, and her grandchildren Thomas Hart III (Trey), Trevor and Jessica Hart, Virginia Wagner, Ryan Wagner, and her great grandchildren Kennedy Hart and Madelyn Hart. Her siblings Carol Freeman, Joe Sisson and Walter (Pete) Sisson also survive her.

Her family wants to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Hagop Kantarjian and his leukemia team at MD Anderson Cancer Center for the care and support they gave her for over 20 years. They are also so very thankful for the love and assistance given to her over the years by her good friend and caregiver Stella Rangel.

Friends are cordially invited to gather with the family and share remembrances of Sylvia during a reception to be held from two o’clock until four o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, the 28th of October, in the grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

At a later date this summer, the family will gather for a memorial service at Oak Point.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests memorial contributions to be directed to MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030-4009; or to Bayside Cemetery, 730 County Rd. 59, Potsdam, NY 13676.