Sylvia Marie Brooks Blackwell, age 97, resident of Moscow, Tennessee and wife of the late Garmen Curtis Blackwell, departed this life Thursday morning, November 26, 2020 at her home.

Sylvia was born September 4, 1923 in Coldwater, Arkansas, the daughter of the late Dink Brooks and Mattie Lorena Hollida Brooks. She received her education at Moscow Elementary School and Fayette County High School and was employed at Firestone Tire & Rubber during World War II. Sylvia was a resident of Fayette County since the age of 13 and was a member of Seventh-day Adventist Church in Somerville. She worked at the Peabody for five years and met Garmen Curtis Blackwell there. They were married in January of 1950 and she was a homemaker throughout her life.

Mrs. Blackwell loved taking care of babies and worked at Faith Lutheran Church in Collierville, Tennessee in the nursery. She loved cooking and was a cook for Memphis Junior Academy from 1959 until 1975 and taught at Sabbath School in Olive Branch, Mississippi. Mrs. Blackwell enjoyed sewing, doing crossword puzzles and watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. She will be remembered for being a loving wife, mother and grandmother.

Mrs. Blackwell is survived by two daughters, Patricia Ann Lindsey of Collinsville, IL and Shirley Jewell (William H.) of Moscow, TN; two sons, John Rodger Lindsey of Odin, IL and George Curtis Blackwell (Susan Garcia) of moscow, TN; nine grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Garmen Curtis Blackwell who died February 7, 1990; her parents, Dink and Mattie Brooks; her daughter, Katherine Sue Blackwell; her son, Thomas Russell “Rusty” Blackwell; three sisters, Florence Houck, Doris Brooks Cole and Mabel Hurdle; and four brothers, Evan Robbins, Charles Rodney Brooks, David Brooks and Richard Brooks.

Funeral Services for Mrs. Blackwell were held at 11 A.M. Monday, November 30, 2020 at the Peebles Main Funeral Chapel in Somerville. Remarks were given by Mrs. Blackwell’s son, George Curtis Blackwell. Interment followed in the Bethlehem Cemetery at Moscow with Pastor Steve Gallimore of Seventh-day Adventist Church in Somerville, officiating.

Those honored to serve as pallbearers were Dan Shroeder, Keith Brooks, Ricky Brooks, Jeremy Brooks, William Ferrell and William Jewell III.

The family requests that memorials be directed to the Memphis Junior Academy, 50 N. Mendenhall Road, Memphis, TN 38117.