Sylvia E. Brugger (nee Bergstrom) of Washington Township, NJ passed away on July 15, 2019, at the age of 96. Beloved wife of the late Bert Brugger; loving mother of Susan Bagienski; devoted grandmother of William, Steven and Phillip; dear aunt of Chet Nawoyski (Gwen), Dennis Brugger (Deborah), Gary Brugger (Ro), Elaine Fronhaphel and the late Richard Nawoyski; sister-in-law of the late George Brugger and Arlene Muhlker.
Sylvia was born Sylvi Elisabet Bergstrom in Valsberg, a very small village close to Overmark in the Westrn part of Finland. She traveled to USA at the age of 1-1/2 years old with her mother to join her father in Waukegan, IL, where she grew up. She later moved to Kenosha, WI her sophomore year in high school. Upon graduating high school, she worked as a traffic clerk at Johns-Manville Products where she would figure weights, rates and tariffs of products sold and shipped.
After Pearl Harbor happened, the WACS opened up but she was not 21, the minimum age to join. In 1942 the WAVES opened up and she could sign up when she was 20, so she did.
Sylvia went to Boot Camp at Cedar Falls State teachers college in Iowa. While learning Navy lingo and being given a Mechanical aptitude test, she was offered the chance to become a Machinist Mate or Metalsmith because of doing well on the test. Upon deciding to become a machinist mate, she was sent to Norman, OK for mechanical training. After 6 months of training, Sylvia received her AMM3c( Aviation Machinist Mate 3rd class) rating in June of 1943 and was ready to be stationed at a Naval Air Station. She was directed to report to Corpus Christi, TX. She was assigned to the assembly and repair hangar where she checked the planes coming in for repair. Most were SNJs which the Naval Cadets trained on and some TBF’s. She went for and received AMM2c in October of 1944. When the war came to an end she received her honorable discharge in November of 1945 and returned to Wisconsin. Meanwhile she met her husband-to-be in Texas, a marine, and became engaged before he went to the South Pacific in 1944. He came back in 1946, and they both moved to Washington DC, where Sylvia worked as a travel Claims Clerk. They were married in 1947 and moved to East Orange, NJ, where Sylvia held secretarial jobs at Hoffman Beverage, American Handicrafts and Automatic Switch in the East Orange/Newark area. She was always striving for the best job.
In 1952, she moved to Totowa, NJ and in 1956 had her only child, her daughter, Susan. She was a happy stay at home Mom until 1966 when she began a part time job (during school hours) working at First National Bank of Passaic County (which through the years changes names and was finally bought out by Wachovia), working as a secretary for the former congressman Gordon Canfield. She worked there for 8 years and then went to work at New Jersey bank for a year, and then to Singer Kerfott until 1987 when she retired to stay at home to take care of her husband, Bert.
Sylvia moved to Washington Township, NJ to be near her daughter and grandsons, who gave her much joy. She was happy to be involved in their formative years and got a video camcorder to tape many of their adventures. She also acquired many part time jobs during this time, such as working at Macy’s, telemarketing for breast cancer outreach donations and volunteering as a poll worker during elections. She was proud to serve her country and the towns she lived in. Her last and final job was working as a substitute secretary for the Washington School district until she was 87 years old, which she thoroughly enjoyed. Sylvia loved her work and was a hard worker.
Sylvia loved her family (both here and abroad) and friends. Her husband and daughter were her life. When 3 grandsons came – William, Steven and Phillip – she had more love to bestow on them. She tried really hard to like William’s music; he grew to love the beach because of his grandmother’s love of the Jersey shore. She was always amazed to see Steven do his magic tricks; he loves learning and is as dedicated as his grandmother in all aspects of life. She volunteered to work the football carnival for Phillip and loved to sample all the culinary delights he created. She was thoughtful, loving, hard-working, funny and beautiful, both inside and out. Sylvia was a very strong lady who was social, outgoing ,sharp as a tack, conscientious, diligent and organized to a tee. She was outspoken and a critical thinkerand always wanted to “know why,” especially when speaking to someone in customer service. She was funny and would say to the grandsons, “have a little pie with that whipped cream.” But she would do anything for anyone, yet she was very independent and had great perseverance.
In addition for Sylvia’s love of her work and her family, she had a variety of interests and activities. She was always learning something new. First and foremost, she loved dancing and music. Dinner dances were her favorite at the VFW post in Cedar Grove, NJ. She would play big band music in the house while singing and dancing to it. At one time, she organized a belly dancing class with the neighbors in the basement. When Atlantic City opened up the casinos, she was there as often as possible. She loved traveling and went to Finland and Waukegan to visit family and a high school reunion. In addition, she met a fellow who enjoyed the same and they traveled many places together.
Sylvia also loved animals, always taking in stray cats and dogs as a child. Loved to watch and identify the birds in the backyard. She had a poodle, Schatzie, for 18 years (was supposed to be Susan’s dog). She loved to watch nature programs on TV also.
Sylvia was a lifelong learner. She went to Kindergarten for 3 years because she started at 3 yrs old. She followed cousins and friends to school and the teacher kept sending her home, but after a while, said she could stay. She listened to the radio in the 1960’s and learned all about healthy living and vitamins. When personal computers came out, she got one and set up her email and online Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune games. She spent hours at a time reading all the emails and Facebook posts.
Sylvia loved shopping, mainly for clothes and shoes, but also for friends and family. She was always impeccably dressed. Sylvia never wore “dungarees” …she felt they were for men who are working in the fields. Jewelry was also a favorite of hers. She always had beautiful accessories and always had everything in place. She also never went to the beauty salon… she always did her own hair, which was always perfect.
Sylvia’s favorite Hymn (and also her mothers) was “How Great Thou Art” and the bible verse she lived by was Phillipians 4:13: “I Can do all things through God who Strengthens me.”
Visitation for relatives and friends was from 2:00PM until the time of service on Friday, July 19, at the Egizi Funeral Home (119 Ganttown Rd., Washington Twp. (Turnersville), followed by Funeral Service at 4:00PM, which included military honors. Interment took place on Saturday at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 295 Totowa Rd., Totowa NJ. Committal Service began at 11:00AM.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Sylvia’s memory to one of the following organizations were suggested by the family:
Bethel United Methodist Church
481 Delsea Drive
Sewell, NJ 08080
Disabled American Veterans (DAV) at www.dav.org or to a veterans’ charity of your choosing.