Wilbur Sylvester

Moline, Illinois
Wilbur E. ?Sy? Sylvester, 82, of Moline, Illinois, died Tuesday, February 17, 2009, in Trinity Medical Center, Moline, Illinois.
Private family services will be held. Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline, is entrusted with arrangements.
Born July 24, 1926, in Normal, Illinois, Sy was the son of William and Daisy (Powell) Sylvester. He served in the U.S. Army in WW II, as a combat infantryman, and earned several awards, including two bronze battle stars. A graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, he was awarded the Merwin Medal of Art while a student.
He married Esther R. Kochendorfer on August 10, 1947, in Lincoln, Illinois. For 8 ½ years, he was the Art Editor of Capper?s Farmer magazine, Topeka, Kansas, a nationally circulated publication. Locally, he was employed in the Advertising Department of Deere and Company as magazine Art Editor of ?The Furrow? for 16 years. Then he was promoted to the new position of Slide Art Production Supervisor, retiring in 1982 after 23 ½ years with Deere.
He was active in local art directors and advertising clubs,, and church and school activities serving in various capacities and offices. From 1992 to 2001, Sy helped write and produce ?The John Deere Retirees? Grapevine,? serving as the Art-Production-Features Editor of the 12-20 page quarterly, non-profit, all-volunteer newsletter.
Sy is survived by his wife, Esther; two daughters, Cynthia Houston of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Kathleen Sylvester of Moline; a son, Steven Sylvester of South Holland, Illinois; granddaughters, Sara Williams and Danielle Dunn, and a great-granddaughter, Ava Williams, all of Moline. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Nona Harris.
Sy?s family invites friends to sign his guestbook or light a candle in his memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.