Sylvia G. Zavinski, of North Warren, died peacefully of natural causes Saturday, March 19, 2022, in her beloved home, which is what she wanted. She was 86, falling short of breaking the family record of good Swedish stock living to 101.
She was born Feb. 26, 1936, in Warren to Maynard and Loretta Edwards Johnson. She was a 1954 graduate of Warren High School and lived her entire life in Warren and North Warren.
On March 2, 1957, in Tidioute, she married John M. Zavinski Jr., who preceded her in death July 12, 2020, after 63 years of marriage.
She met John during the March 1956 Warren flood when John was sent to help as a teller at Warren National Bank’s East Side branch, where Sylvia was a teller. Business was slow, so they had a lot of time to talk. He asked her out on a date the second day, and they become engaged eight months later and were married just shy of a year after they met.
After her marriage, she continued to work for Warren National Bank for a few years as a teller in the Market Street Plaza drive-in (her husband later went on to become manager of the East Side branch).
In 1975, she began working for the state Office of Employment Security in Warren, starting as a claims intake interviewer and working her way up to become an employment-services supervisor. She retired in 1996.
In the early years of their marriage, Sylvia and John both were active in Warren Players Club, John as an occasional director and actor and Sylvia helping run the box office.
When their three sons were young, she was active in the Pre-School Child Study Group (Mother’s Club), the Market Street Elementary School PTA and local bowling leagues. She was also involved in her husband’s hobby, archaeology, and the local and state archaeology societies. They made many dear, lifetime friends through archaeology.
Sylvia enjoyed books and reading (including cookbooks, which most of the family still doesn’t quite understand because she never really cooked that much); cats; local and family history; and watching and feeding her backyard woodland critters. The arrival of her morning newspaper was a highlight of the day.
She was a wonderful, loving, supportive wife, mother and grandmother.
Sylvia is survived by two sons, John M. Zavinski and his companion, Marsha Hunt, Hermitage, Pa., and Scott A. Zavinski and his wife, Cassia, Glen Allen, Va.; three grandchildren, Katie Prettyman, Kristy (Andy) Hanks and Kyle Zavinski, all of Warren; two great-grandchildren, Adrya Prettyman and Drew Hanks; and many nieces, nephews, grandkitties and granddogs.
Besides her parents, Sylvia was preceded in death by her stepfather, James Hubbard; a son, James A. Zavinski on March 19, 2005, and his widow, Cindy Wykoff Zavinski, on Feb. 29, 2008; her sister, Carol Wasielewski; a nephew, Timothy Wasielewski; her kitties Gunther, Taylor, Tyler and Rusty; and her adopted granddog, Sampson.
Friends may call at the Donald E. Lewis Funeral Home, Inc., 304 East Street, Warren, PA., on Wednesday, March 23, 2022 from 6 to 8 P.M. where a funeral service will be conducted Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 10:00 A.M. with Rev. Ralph Culp, Pastor of Covenant United Methodist Church, officiating.
Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, Warren.
The family suggests memorial contributions to Paws Along the River Humane Society, 212 Elm St.; Warren Library Association, 205 Market St.; or Warren County Historical Society, Box 427, all Warren, PA 16365. E-mail condolences may be sent by visiting www.lewisfuneralhomeinc.com