Sylvia G. Berry

Sylvia G. Berry, devoted wife, mother and music educator died in her home last week.  She was 90 years old.  Sylvia was a native of Gadsden, Alabama where she was preceded in death by her parents, Arthur and Mildred Green and her sister, Betty Wilson.  

Sylvia attended Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee where she met her beloved future husband Arthur R. Berry.  According to the 1949 Fisk Directory, Sylvia was an English major before switching to her first love which was music.  She studied under the famed African-American composer John W. Work III who was educated at what is now the Juilliard School of Music, in addition to Columbia and Yale Universities.  

Sylvia first begin teaching in Pompano Beach, Florida where she married Arthur before moving to Tallahassee, Floria and then Albany where she retired after nearly 30 years of service as a music teacher in the Dougherty County School System and St. Theresa’s Catholic School.  She and her late husband were devoted church members and avid supporters of the Arts. 

She is survived by her sons, Arthur Kevin Berry of New York, NY; Dr. Keith Wendell Berry, his wife, Sadahri Berry of Tampa, FL, and their sons, Arthur Rudolph Berry II (Gainesville, FL), and Preston Berry (Tampa, FL); and her nieces Dr. Gay Byron of Washington, D.C, and her sons, Lloyd Byron Davis (Washington, D.C.) and Philip Davis, Jr. (Philadelphia, PA); and Cathy Green of Gadsden, Alabama. 

Services will be held at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church on Old Dawson Rd. on Friday July 23rd at 3:00pm.  In lieu of flowers, please send donations to:  Albany State University, The Foundation, c/o Arthur and Sylvia Berry Scholarship, 504 College Drive, Albany, Georgia 31705.  

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