Sylvia Grill Flenner

Sylvia Grill Walsh Flenner, age 83, of San Antonio, TX, died Tuesday, April 1, 2008. She was born on July 20, 1924 in New York City, NY to Esther Roepke and Saul Grill who met on a ship while returning to the U.S. from Europe after WWI. Losing her mother in early infancy, Sylvia was raised by her aunt/stepmother Ellen Grill and her Grandmother Roepke. Sylvia's early schooling was done in New York and then Washington, DC where she graduated from St. Roses. As her first job, Sylvia worked for the State Department Code Room from 1943 to 1946. Following that, she began working for the Foreign Service as a Secretary at the London Conference of Foreign Ministers at the end of WWII. Sylvia transferred to the Consulate General in Munich for 4 years, in Berlin for 2 years and then the Consulate in Yokohama, Japan for 2 years. Sylvia was then assigned to Costa Rica in 1957 where she met Robert. She and Robert were married in 1958. They moved to Washington where she worked in the Department of State for Passport and Visa offices. Their son, Robert was born in 1960 and when he was 1 year old the family moved to Luanda Angola, Africa where they worked in U.S. Consulate General for 5 years. The family moved back to U.S. where Robert worked at the State Department until he retired 1968. In Maine, Sylvia assisted Robert in his position as Head of Administration at Maine Maritime Academy. In 1990, when they both retired, they moved to downtown San Antonio, TX where they lived just off the River Walk. Sylvia is survived by her husband, Robert H. Flenner; son, Robert Lawrence Flenner and his wife, Patricia; step-son, John Wareham Flenner; brother, Robert B. Grill and his wife, Laura; and her brother's 3 children, Robert, Marisa, and John. Services will be held this summer in Castine, Maine.