Sylvia Irene Watkins-Castillo, daughter of Helen and Wayne Watkins, sister of Viola Gonder, mother of Matthew and Michael Wiley, wife of Manuel Castillo, sister-in-law, stepmother, aunt, mother-in-law, cousin, grandmother, friend, died peacefully on May 26, 2023 , surrounded by her family.

Born in Griswold Iowa, the family later moved to nearby Red Oak, where she met her school classmate Dennis Wiley. Denny and Sylvia moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to attend the University of Nebraska, and married in 1965. In 1968, Michael was born. Later that year they moved to Des Moines, Iowa and in 1971 Matthew was born.

While raising her children and working full-time in the urban planning field, Sylvia attended school. She earned a Master’s degree in 1980, and a PhD in Sociology in 1993. Dennis and Sylvia divorced amicably and Sylvia later married Rich Rabbe. After Rich and Sylvia’s amicable divorce, Sylvia and the boys moved across the street. Sylvia continued to live in that house until 1993, when she moved to Chicago where her sister Viola lived with her family. From her apartment one floor below them, Sylvia placed a personal ad that was answered by a man named Manuel Castillo. On their first date they walked to a tea shop near Sylvia’s apartment and then drove around in Manuel’s Thunderbird. They married in May 1995 at Loyola Beach Park on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Despite her shy nature, Sylvia had a sense of adventure and an interest in trying new things. When Michael and Matthew were 10 and 13 the three of them participated in the Register Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), an Iowa tradition. While married to Rich, she and the boys learned to ski on family trips to Colorado. In Chicago, she learned to row and became part of a crew team despite her fear of water. When she and Manuel moved to Washington, she learned to make driftwood art and became a talented artist.

In 2000 Sylvia and Manuel embarked on their biggest adventure of all. They bought a piece of land in Northwestern Colorado, near where Michael lived and worked as an independent construction contractor. Michael and his crew of friends built Sylvia’s dream home, largely designed by Sylvia. They lived there for 5 years before moving to Sequim, Washington to be closer to Matthew, his wife Janet, and their children Caleb and Helen in Seattle, as well as Manuel’s youngest daughter Krissy, her husband Tony, and their children Peyton and Patrick who lived in Beaverton, Oregon. Michael moved from Colorado to Seattle, and later to Port Townsend, Washington. In 2022 Sylvia and Manuel moved to an independent living community in Port Townsend, where they have gotten to have regular visits with Michael and his girlfriend Cindy Bjerke.

Sylvia was a whiz with a needle and thread, an excellent cook and baker, and a talented photographer. She played a mean game of dominoes. She loved to read and watch movies and had vast collections of books, DVDs, and VHS tapes. She kept an efficient and comfortable home, with a basket of unwrapped soaps by the sink and a labelled container for every item in her kitchen.

In January 2019 Sylvia was diagnosed with Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA). MSA is the slow breakdown of the body’s systems, including, in Sylvia’s case, failure to breath without strong medications. Sylvia received excellent care and much love from several branches of hospice. The great joy of her life was her family, who, along with her many friends will miss her terribly. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a charity of your choice in Sylvia’s memory. Sylvia’s final message is “love to all those family and friends I leave behind, may we find one another in another world.”

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