A three-time Emmy Award winning television anchorman in Washington, D.C. whose long life included the ups and downs of local celebrity in numerous places, great loves and great loves lost, Anthony I. Sylvester died November 14, 2020 in Southern Shores, his North Carolina home for the past 30 years.
Born December 7, 1927, in Glenridge, New Jersey, his middle name was bestowed in honor of the doctor who delivered both him and his sister, as well as their father and his sister, back when the term ‘family doctor’ had a meaning largely unknown today.
Some of his fondest memories were of what was then Western High School in Washington, where his family moved, and where he played football, boxed and was a member of Sigma Delta fraternity. As an usher at Redskins games, he saw Sling’in Sammy Baugh and other greats in their prime.
A 1950 graduate of Princeton, Tony majored in English and American Civilization, boxed, wrote for the campus newspaper and cartooned for the humor magazine. He then went to work as a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times in Florida where he was first assigned to obituaries and promptly misspelled cemetery.
Throughout his career Tony wore many hats – he served in the army, was a radio host, newspaper reporter, television weatherman and news anchor, a White House correspondent, and owned a country music radio station. Tony was an avid writer and golfer and loved to play the piano in his early years.
He was preceded in death by his wife Eda Magyar Sylvester (died May 2019).
Tony is survived by four children, William Arthur Sylvester and wife Jan, Anthony Roland Sylvester, Pamela Sylvester Kilpatrick and husband Mike, and Margit Magyar Sylvester and husband Taylor Kenney; four grandchildren, Richard Sylvester and wife Jessica, Kathryn Sylvester, William Kilpatrick, and Sarah Kilpatrick; and three great-grandchildren, Arlie, Isaac, and Owen Sylvester.
Twiford Funeral Homes, Outer Banks is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.TwifordFH.com.
