Sylvia Jane Maday

Sylvia Jane (Zigler) Maday was born at the family home in Rajahmundry, India. She was in such a hurry to start life she arrived before her mother could make it to the hospital. Fortunately her father was a doctor and made a safe delivery.

Sylvia was born in India as the daughter of Lutheran medical missionaries. Having been raised in India when she came to Indiana University for college she felt like a stranger in the country of her citizenship and wanted to find a way to keep the culture of her life and love. When Rupley Maday, who had been a trusted friend of the family in India came to America, love bloomed and they married and made an Indian home in the midst of America in Columbus, Ohio. Sylvia and Ruply had one child, Virgil Solomon Maday, named for both his American and Indian grandfathers. The language of the little family was music and the three of them sang together in a group called Love’s Trio. They emphasized sacred music and were members of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.

Sylvia’s greatest joy in life was being a mother and after her husband passed she stayed with her child until a stroke required a higher level of care. Sylvia’s friends and family in her last days were the blessed caretakers and residents of Westerwood Nursing Care on Ponderosa Drive in Columbus, Ohio.

Sylvia was preceded in death by her husband, her parents Virgil Elvin Zigler and Jeanne (Mumma) Zigler; and her sister Carol Kusserow.

She is survived by her only child; her grandchildren Virgil Elvin Maday and Brittany (Noah) McDowell; great-grandchildren Zuri McDowell, Beyla McDowell and Jake Kenneth Joy Eaton; sisters Lucille Ankenman and Beverly (Ted) Hofer, and a host of nieces and nephews who admired the glorious Indian clothing she wore all her life and the amazing food that came from her home at each family gathering.

Private services are being arranged for burial at a family plot in Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.