In memory of Sylvia Woods
Age: 86 years old
Sylvia Woods, Founder of Iconic Harlem Restaurant, Dead at 86
New York's "Queen of Soul Food"
Obituary:
Funeral service for the late Sylvia Woods will be held 11:00 A.M on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at Jeremiah UM Church in Hemingway, SC. Interment will follow in the Devotional Memorial Gardens in Hemingway, SC directed by Nesmith~Pinckney Funeral Home, Inc.
Sylvia Woods, founder of the famed Harlem soul food restaurant that carries her name and was a must-stop for locals, tourists and politicians, has died. She was 86.
Woods died Thursday afternoon at her home in Mount Vernon, N.Y., said her granddaughter Tren'ness Woods-Black. She had been dealing with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years.
Woods and her husband Herbert, "Ms. Sylvia created a special place on Lenox and 127th street. Sylvia's may have been famous nationally and internationally, but its soul has always remained in Harlem," she said. "Nothing can replace its founder, but her legacy will live on in the memories she helped make."
Rev. Al Sharpton said Sylvia's was "more than a restaurant, it has been a meeting place for Black America." He said he had dined there with many famous faces including President Barack Obama and Caroline Kennedy.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "We lost a legend today. For more than 50 years, New Yorkers have enjoyed Sylvia's and visitors have flocked to Harlem to get a table. In her words, the food was made with 'a whole lot of love' and generations of family and friends have come together at what became a New York institution."
From its start as a restaurant, Sylvia's has grown to include multiple cookbooks and a nationwide line of food products.
Woods-Black said the restaurant, marking its 50th anniversary in August, is more than just a place to eat, that it's a place where her grandmother could express her hospitality, a tradition that following generations have maintained.
"If you come alone, you're never going to dine alone," she said.
Woods-Black said her grandmother had officially stepped down from running the restaurant when she was 80, leaving it in the hands of her children and grandchildren. She is survived by her four children, Van (Brenda Woods), Bedelia, Kenneth (Sylvia Woods), and Crizette; one step-daughter, Linda Woods; 18 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two great great-grandchildren; two special cousins, Christine Cameron and Janie Cooper; one sister-in-law, Evelyn Woods; a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and a nation that will forever be indebted to a woman who reminded us to never lose sight of the key ingredient for any success-Lots of Love………………Plenty of Soul.
Obituary source: Nesmith-Pinckney Funeral Home, Inc.
In memory of Sylvia Woods
Age: 86 years old
Sylvia Woods, Founder of Iconic Harlem Restaurant, Dead at 86
New York's "Queen of Soul Food"
Obituary:
Funeral service for the late Sylvia Woods will be held 11:00 A.M on Saturday, July 28, 2012 at Jeremiah UM Church in Hemingway, SC. Interment will follow in the Devotional Memorial Gardens in Hemingway, SC directed by Nesmith~Pinckney Funeral Home, Inc.
Sylvia Woods, founder of the famed Harlem soul food restaurant that carries her name and was a must-stop for locals, tourists and politicians, has died. She was 86.
Woods died Thursday afternoon at her home in Mount Vernon, N.Y., said her granddaughter Tren'ness Woods-Black. She had been dealing with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years.
Woods and her husband Herbert, "Ms. Sylvia created a special place on Lenox and 127th street. Sylvia's may have been famous nationally and internationally, but its soul has always remained in Harlem," she said. "Nothing can replace its founder, but her legacy will live on in the memories she helped make."
Rev. Al Sharpton said Sylvia's was "more than a restaurant, it has been a meeting place for Black America." He said he had dined there with many famous faces including President Barack Obama and Caroline Kennedy.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, "We lost a legend today. For more than 50 years, New Yorkers have enjoyed Sylvia's and visitors have flocked to Harlem to get a table. In her words, the food was made with 'a whole lot of love' and generations of family and friends have come together at what became a New York institution."
From its start as a restaurant, Sylvia's has grown to include multiple cookbooks and a nationwide line of food products.
Woods-Black said the restaurant, marking its 50th anniversary in August, is more than just a place to eat, that it's a place where her grandmother could express her hospitality, a tradition that following generations have maintained.
"If you come alone, you're never going to dine alone," she said.
Woods-Black said her grandmother had officially stepped down from running the restaurant when she was 80, leaving it in the hands of her children and grandchildren. She is survived by her four children, Van (Brenda Woods), Bedelia, Kenneth (Sylvia Woods), and Crizette; one step-daughter, Linda Woods; 18 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two great great-grandchildren; two special cousins, Christine Cameron and Janie Cooper; one sister-in-law, Evelyn Woods; a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins, and a nation that will forever be indebted to a woman who reminded us to never lose sight of the key ingredient for any success-Lots of Love………………Plenty of Soul.
Obituary source: Nesmith-Pinckney Funeral Home, Inc.
