Sylvester Jay Sessions

On Monday, August 20, 2018, Sylvester completed life on this earth and returned home to be with his eternal companion, Afton Nielsen, who had passed away in 2012.

Sylvester was born in Butte, MT, to Jesse and Pearl Sessions. He lived there several years until his father needed to find employment because of the Depression. He found a job on the Bailey Dairy Farm located in the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. It was here that Sylvester learned how to be a hard worker by milking cows twice a day, thinning sugar beets and cleaning stalls. This work ethic stayed with him all his life.

After five years, they returned to Butte, where he completed his education and graduated from Butte High. He then married his High School sweetheart, Afton Nielsen, and just a few months later entered service in the US Navy in WWII.

He studied at Iowa State University, where he was trained and certified as an Aviation Electrician Mate for the Navy. He was later assigned to Flight Squadron VT-50 (TBM Avenger). His squadron went to Klamath Falls, OR, where they practiced torpedo drops in Crater Lake. His squadron then went to San Diego where they traveled by Navy Destroyer to meet up with their carrier the USS Cowpens CVL-25 in Pearl Harbor – the first ship to enter Tokyo Bay before the signing (surrender) of Japan ending WWII. While in the service, his first son Dennis Jay was born in Butte, MT.

Once released from the Navy in 1945, he found employment with Bethlehem Steel in Seattle, WA. Sylvester progressed to the position of Electrical Superintendent and retired from Bethlehem Steel in 1979. During that time, the family grew with the birth of Dan Louis, LouAnn Joy and Timothy Elliott. After working for 34 years, he and his wife Afton began to travel and see the world.

They left Seattle and moved to Olympia, WA, and then to Boise, ID, where they lived for the past 20 plus years.

Sylvester and Afton were married for 70 years and had 4 children, 14 grandchildren and 30 great-grandchildren.

Sylvester was preceded in death by his wife Afton, his son Dennis Jay, daughter LouAnn Joy, 3 sisters, 3 brothers, grandson Michael and 3 great-grandchildren. He is survived by sons Dan Louis (Alta) of Boise and Timothy Elliott (Mary) of Troutdale, OR, daughter-in-law Lucy Sessions of Quitman, TX, and brother Don in the Twin Falls, ID, area.

Funeral services will be held Monday, August 27, 2018, at 12:00 p.m. at the LDS Chapel at 2299 N. Five Mile Rd., Boise, with a viewing beginning at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery, 10100 Horseshoe Bend Rd., Boise. Services are under the direction of Relyea Funeral Chapel.