In Passing: Sylvia Brickley Weller (1925 – 2020)

Long-time Santa Barbara resident and mother of Mark Paul Brickley, Elizabeth (Betsy) Read Brickley-Adams, mother-in-law of Patrick T. Adams, and grandmother of Jackson Adams and Sturdy Adams, has died of natural causes.

Sylvia’s paternal grandparents were Elsa Meyer, a concert pianist, and Heinrich Volkmann, a transportation chief for the German rail system, honored by Kaiser Wilhelm, the last king of Germany, for his achievements. Her maternal grandparents, Frederick Nash Read of Virginia and Louise Ludlow Bryant of Ludlow, Kentucky, were descended from early families of this country. Her parents were Dorothy Read and Erich Volkmann. Her father graduated from the University of Heidelberg and emigrated before the two World Wars.

Sylvia attended Katherine Gibbs College in Boston and held positions at Brown University, The Ringling Hotel in Sarasota, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and J. Walter Thompson in New York City. She married Paul Brickley of Minnesota, and their children were born in Rochester, where Dr. Brickley was a staff member at the Mayo Clinic. In 1954 the family moved to Santa Barbara, and Dr. Brickley practiced ophthalmology at the Sansum Clinic.

Following her husband’s death, Sylvia attended City College and UCSB, graduating with honors in English in 1971. She joined Arthur Bromfield’s real estate office in Montecito (Sears) and combined real estate sales, travel and writing, and had a great life, by her own admission. In 1990 she married LeRoy Weller and lived on the beach in Carpinteria until his death in 2000. Together they cruised the globe.

She was active in several community organizations including the Junior League and the Lobero Theatre and three local private clubs. She enjoyed bridge and three reading clubs, and the rich variety of arts this community offers. With a Pat McClure-led group at All Saints-by-the-Sea Church, she explored evolving trends in Christian theology as it responded to advances in neurology and physics.

If she were writing this herself she would say that among the many gifts of this life, her loving children Elizabeth (Betsy) and Mark, grandsons Jackson and Sturdy, son-in-law Patrick, and those friends who helped her laugh and who nurtured her spirit top the list. So long, all dear ones, “I wait at the Gate.”

She was interested in a book fund for single mothers at City College, which the Foundation for SBCC’s CARE program supports.

A celebration of Sylvia’s life will be held when family and friends are able to gather.