Sylvia Jane Loffer

  General Notes:

Sylvia traveled by a horse drawn wagon and by jet airplane in her life time. Her Dad was a blacksmith and at the turn of the century in 1900, she remembered all the noise of the banging on the big iron anvil at midnight. Later as a young wife, she would make a fruit pie every day of the week. She hitched up a horse and drove a buggy to her husband with half the pie in his lunch. The other half was for her children. She did all her baking in wood burning stoves. She owned a foot driven singer sewing machine that she used all her life to make clothes and quilts. In North Miami, she had a full bed size quilting frame hung from her living room ceiling. She would crank it down to lap level when the ladies came to sew the quilts and crank it up out of the way at the end of the sewing circle. Sylvia had high quality standards but was very kind. One woman sewed very sloppy stitches. Rather than hurt the woman's feeling by criticizing the poor workmanship, Sylvia just quietly picked out the bad sections and sewed them again. Her favorite job of all time was her job as a Postmistress in North Miami, OK. She said she got to see everyone in town when they came to pick up the mail. That was a lot of fun. Church life was always important to Sylvia. She taught herself to play piano on a paper keyboard so she could play during church services. In California, as a grandmother, Sylvia made industrial quantities of Apricot jam for the grandkids every year. For birthdays, she sent a washed and ironed $5 bill to each grandchild. Sylvia traveled by jet airplane to visit one grandchild in South Dakota. She felt that her grandkids should sit up straight with the feet on the floor, when on the couch in the living room. She would say "If you want to lay down, go lay on the bed". This was an argument she lost with her slouchy grandkids. However, no one ate in her living room and certainly not in front of the TV. We all ate at the big kitchen table. The Great Depression taught Sylvia to be very thrifty in her ways. She never once ate at a restaurant as she felt it was just too expensive and the food was better at home anyway. Sylvia made all her dresses with high necks and long sleeves. She didn't replace anything until it was broken beyond repair. Rather then buy new linoleum, she would paint her floor every year and use sponges to create patterns. It always looked good. She used a wringer washer and line dried her clothes until some else took over the laundry chores. Still, Sylvia always took an interest in her home and redecorated at 92. She painted the bathroom of her Victorian home to just even with the top of the doorway green. She left the top of the wall and ceiling white since she felt her ladder was too rickety. It did sway pretty alarmingly. Sylvia made everyone feel like she had been waiting all day to see you and it was just wonderful to have you as her company. She always had time for projects and would help in every possible way. Sylvia also had a quick wit and subtle sense of humor.

Sylvia married William Leander Cooper, son of Isaac Cooper and Elizabeth Jackson, on 16 Nov 1905 in Bruno, Marion County, Arkansas. (William Leander Cooper was born on 2 Jan 1885 in Bruno, Marion County, Arkansas, died on 10 Apr 1971 in Riverside, Riverside County, California and was buried on 14 Apr 1971 in Evergreen Memorial Park, Riverside, California.)

  Marriage Notes:

Married by J.C. Cooper, Minister of the Gospel On Marriage Certificate