Sylvia Cornish (1934 – March 1, 2019 Menlo Park, California)
With sadness we announce the death of Sylvia-Anne Fairn Cornish, who died at the age of 85 of natural causes on March 1, 2019 in Napa California.
Sylvia was born in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1934, the youngest of six children. Her father, Leslie Raymond Fairn, was a prominent architect and her mother was Ethel Hutchinson Fairn. After an idyllic childhood growing up in rural Nova Scotia, Sylvia went on to attend King’s-Edgehill School and Dalhousie University.
While visiting her sister Ardeth and brother-in-law Kingsford Jones in Atherton, Sylvia met and fell in love with Jim Cornish, and they soon married. Sylvia embraced the California lifestyle. She made lovely homes in Menlo Park and later in Atherton for her family of three children.
Sylvia was an active volunteer with The Junior League and The Peninsula Volunteers. Her radiant beauty graced many a modeling runway at charity events. Sylvia loved animals and had a special fondness for her many dogs. She also loved snow skiing in the Sierras, and playing tennis and riding horses at the Menlo Circus Club.
Sylvia and Jim divorced in 1977. A few years later she married Bob McNeil, with whom she traveled the world from their home bases in Atherton and Lake Tahoe. Her marriage to McNeil ended in 1986. She remained living in Atherton and continued to travel with friends and family.
In 1998, Sylvia moved from Atherton to Napa, where she found joy in tending to her expansive flower gardens and boutique vineyard. She was an active member of The Francisca Club and the Napa Garden Club. She continued to spend her summers at her house on Lake Tahoe.
Sylvia is survived by her brother Hugh Fairn, her three children, Jay, Hugh and Cass, and her six grandchildren. Sylvia was a strikingly beautiful and grand lady. Her powerful personality, sense of humor, passion for life and huge presence will be dearly missed by her children, grandchildren, extended family and friends.
Memorial donations may be given to the League to Save Lake Tahoe (donate.savelaketahoe.org).
[S5] Find A Grave, → Memorial ID 201751475.
1934 - 2019 (85 years)
Siblings
. Herbert Jay CORNISH, b. 19 May 1958, Santa Clara, California 
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