Last and Final Tribute To Manny Sylvia, 1/14/1911–12/07/2008
There will be a “Last & Final” tribute to Manuel T. (Manny) Sylvia on Veterans Day at the Charles F. Albaugh Memorial Flagpole at the Main St./195 overpass. At this time his momentos and military flag will be burned at that location in a final, respectful ceremony and the ashes buried inside fence.
Manny Sylvia was born on January 14th, 1911, one hundred and nine years ago. He died at the age of 97 on December 7th, 2008. Manny’s wife Marie predeceased him by several years and they had no children. In the final years of his life he had no known living relatives, but many, many friends in Fairhaven. The closest of which was John Medeiros (former owner of Medeiros Bus Company where Manny worked as a driver) who maintained a very strong and personal relationship with Manny through his final years.
This ceremony now is organized through the efforts of John Medeiros and retired Army veteran Mike Lemaire, who is the caretaker of the grounds at the overpass. After Manny’s death in 2008 all of his belongings were distributed in accordance with his will or donated to charities, with the exception of his military flag and a small number of sentimental items which John still possesses. With almost no one around that would even remember the personable and friendly bus driver from the 1970s, John and Mike have determined that it would be a fitting tribute to fly “Manny’s flag” this Veteran’s Day and then finally dispose of these objects along with the flag in a manner that follows proper flag retirement etiquette. The burning of the items will be done at the Main Street location at 3:00 p.m. on Veteran’s Day, November 11th. All are invited for this short memorial to WWII army veteran Manny Sylvia.
Please Note: If anyone is interested in disposing of a military burial flag in a respectful and proper manner please contact John or Mike.
For more information please call John Medeiros at 508-990-0000 or Mike Lemaire at 508-454-0517
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