Sylvia Jayne Bazan

Sylvia Jayne Bazan died in her sleep Friday, August 6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She had a rich and tragic and joyous life. When we spoke at length about life and courage and regret and forgiveness and love, she spoke about taking into eternity the love and forgiveness we showed in this life. She knew deep, terrible heartbreak, but nonetheless loved fiercely and generously. She especially loved children and absolutely doted on babies. Sylvia is preceded in death by her beloved fiancée, Jake Noon, her parents, Joaquin Bazan and Justina Romero Bazan, and her brother Joseph Lee. Lee’s living donation of a kidney kept Sylvia with us for the past 19 years. She is survived by her brother Rev. Monsignor Joaquin Bazan of Washington DC, her brother John Bazan and his wife Margie of Naples, Florida, her sister Anita Bazan Harris and her husband Bill of Niwot, Colorado, her brother James Bazan and his wife Laura of Charlotte, North Carolina, and by her Aunt Rosemarie Crowe of Ormond, Victoria, Australia. She was also the beloved and extravagant Aunt of Anita, Christina, Christopher, Justina, Alec, Adelina, Brendan, and Evan, and will be missed by great-nieces and nephews, by godchildren, by cousins, and by innumerable friends and their children. A native Washingtonian with deep New Mexican roots, Sylvia graduated in 1956 from Notre Dame Academy, and later from Trinity College in Washington DC. Sylvia worked in government service at the National Labor Relations Board, the Solicitor’s Office at the Department of Labor, and then in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. In the private sector, she worked at what was then Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge, and retired from Kirkland and Ellis. Sylvia was active in many causes and always championed civil rights and social justice. She volunteered in organizations where her professional skills were most valuable, such as serving on the Tribunal for the Archdiocese of Washington, and in direct services where her intrapersonal skills were most useful, such as teaching English to immigrants and refugees. Sylvia was a fabulous cook, and hated the idea of anyone going hungry. If you are so inclined, a suitable tribute would be a donation to the Road Runner Food Bank in Albuquerque, or to a local foodbank where you live. There will a private ennichement at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Albuquerque in October. In late October there will be a memorial service at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Hyattsville, Maryland, where Sylvia and Jake had planned to be married.