Sydney Norton Thorn, 70, of Hatfield, MA, passed away peacefully on August 9th, 2024 in Cambridge, MA with her husband, Peter, and daughter, Margot, by her side.

Sydney was born November 18, 1953, in Amityville, NY to William and Barbara Thorn. She attended Amityville High School before heading to Ohio Wesleyan, and then finished her undergraduate degree at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Sydney graduated from Smith College with a Masters in Social Work in 1982, and began her lifelong career as a clinical social worker, providing therapy, first primarily for children and adolescents, and later with adults who had experienced trauma, becoming an early practitioner of EMDR therapy.

A remarkably compassionate person, she dedicated her life to helping others. Syd touched so many with her unique ability to provide infinite support, love, and guidance to those around her.

In 1994, she married Peter, her loving husband of 30 years, and they joyfully welcomed their daughter, Margot in 1996, completing their family. Sydney considered being Margot's mom to be the richest experience of her life.

A lover of animals and deeply inspired by nature, Sydney grew up on the water, and throughout her life relished scuba diving in the ocean, and swimming in lakes, rivers and her flower-surrounded, backyard pool sanctuary.

But her adventurous spirit did not stop there. She was also an avid birder and traveled to South Africa, Peru, Ecuador, and more on exciting bird-watching expeditions.

Sydney had many treasured pets throughout her life. From beloved dogs and horses to reptiles and rodents, her compassion stretched well beyond humans as she cared for a number of creatures great and small.

An enthusiastic traveler, she visited many countries, states, and national parks with her family, backpacked around much of Europe in her youth, and even recently, continued to find joy in traveling, refusing to let illness interfere. With her most recent trip to Iceland, just a few months ago, she checked off a long-time item on her bucket list, to see the Northern Lights.

A part-time resident of Washington D.C., she and Peter relished their time there, especially during the New England winters. Syd spent many days in D.C. passionately perusing the Library of Congress, attending congressional hearings, and visiting a seemingly non-stop schedule of museum exhibits and events. Year round, Syd and Peter would frequent the botanical gardens and Arboretum to enjoy daily walks, delighting in the annual appearance of the cherry blossoms, lilacs, azaleas and wisteria.

We know that Syd will be forever at our sides when we swim, ride, walk or sit, savoring the natural world.

Sydney is survived by her husband, Peter Pollard of Hatfield, and daughter, Margot Pollard of Brooklyn, as well as her three siblings Katie Thorn of San Jose, CA, William Thorn and his wife Carol Thorn of Arlington, VA; Townsend Thorn, and his wife Kathleen Thorn, of Amityville, NY; her brother-in-law, Jay Pollard, and his wife, Nancy Pollard; sister-in-law, Penny Pollard, and her spouse Eileen Monahan; and many beloved nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

Sydney and her family would like to thank the phenomenal teams at Dana-Farber, Brigham & Women’s, and Spaulding Rehab for providing exceptional care these last few years as well as the incredible network of loving and supportive family and friends who have been here, tirelessly, at every step of her journey.

Information about a Celebration of Sydney's Life, to be scheduled later in the year, will be available on this site. In the meantime, we invite family and friends to begin by sharing memories and photos here.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Sydney’s name to the Southern Poverty Law Center; the Equal Justice Initiative; or any charity of your choice that serves people who have been marginalized.

Sydney was a beautiful light on this earth and deeply loved by so many, she will be dearly missed.

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