Sylvia L Escobar

Avid craftswoman and gardener, baker of celebratory cakes and obsessive watcher of the TV Series, Outlander, Sylvia L Escobar, went peacefully at the age of 81, on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 in San Jose, California.

A burial for immediate family took place on Monday, January 9, 2023 @ Oak Hill Funeral Home & Memorial Park, in San Jose, California. The family will fulfill her wishes and hold a Celebration of Life at the historic Hayes Mansion in San Jose, California on Saturday, February 4, 2023.

In 1941, Sylvia was born at Queens Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii to Marcelino & Lorraine DeLaFuente exactly two months to the day before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her family lineage hails from Spain and Portugal where her aunts and uncles from both the DeLaFuente (cartel) and Gomes (transportation magnets) were part of the rescuing and supporting efforts to put our country back online. In fact, predominantly her Spanish uncles helped the wounded soldiers on Pearl Harbor Day and soon after, her Portuguese grandfather donated his fleet of Gomes Transportation trucks to the Armed Forces to support the efforts. (They also, in fact protected many Japanese families and helped them from the thwarting risk of Japanese Internment Camp guards, telling them, "Go to hell, they're all Korean!").

After wearing nothing but a swaddling diaper for 8 years, she finally got her first pair of shoes and a dress because the family was "Headed to the Mainland" where Spam, dried fish and dates were a rare commodity. Sylvia was the eldest of three at that time, with two younger sisters in tow, and they made Sunnyvale, California their home (her parents, Marcelino and Lorriane had a little hand in this effort too). Marcelino was in the Army and was based in nearby Moffett Field. Not long after, two more brothers were born which was just right to fit all seven of them, plus another boy, Richard, they later adopted, in their two-bedroom, one bath house. The two closets in the entire house were each the size of a refrigerator and, like other parts of the house, somehow was able to fit everyone's clothes, shoes and jackets.

In school, Sylvia found solace as a color-guard in Jr. High and at Sunnyvale High, and even became Prom Queen, where, from pictures, the family learned that Sylvia is not a natural blond.

Not long after high school, and dumping her Latino high school sweetheart, Sylvia was prancing across a bowling alley, holding an unlit cigarette, when yet ANOTHER Latino (seems to be a bad habit at this point), Jess Escobar happened to draw his lighter as if he were Clint Eastwood drawing his gun in The Man With No Name, and lit her cigarette, likely thinking he was the modern day Clark Gable of his time. And as legend has it, the rest is history (or let's just say "he" was history 40 years later and divorced). But, needless to say, they had a good run, having established a nice middle-class home from a delivery man's salary, in San Jose, California. They raised (almost) three kids; Stacey, Chris and Theresa – each kid a shade lighter than the eldest, and the youngest, naturally, getting away with the most, INCLUDING, talking back (I KNOW, right?!).

The simplest pleasures in life brought great joy to Sylvia. She loved her quiet evenings coming up with crafts for any holiday that was the next holiday in line. She loved to decorate her home every holiday, from Valentines to Christmas. Of the many crafts she loved to do, there was stained-glass, wood burning on wooden ducks, dowels, spoons, quilting, Tri-Chem embroidery, needle point, etc. She also loved to host craft parties with her friends and have tea parties.

As a homemaker she baked cakes to keep busy and make a little side money in addition to selling her crafts at craft shows. Sylvia also made various jams, jellies, fruit rolls, some using the apricots from her own tree. She just wanted nothing more than to just have her family together.

Oh and did she ever love gardening. She could pretty much grow anything and had a love of her pond and beautiful Koi fish.

She was also a Girl Scout Troop Leader for many years of Troop 17 where she got the campfire name "Butterfly". That symbol and artwork followed her for the rest of her life.