Sylvia (Sylvie) Gibson Phelps, a 23-year resident of Pacific Palisades, died November 8 at the Phelps family’s summer home in Paradise Valley, Montana. After a 19-month struggle with brain cancer, Sylvie passed away while surrounded by her family. She was 58. Sylvie was born a ‘preacher’s kid’ on September 14, 1950 in Glendale. She was the youngest daughter of Phil and Ruby Gibson, founders of Village Church in Burbank and Village School, now located in Sun Valley. After graduating from Burroughs High School, Sylvie attended California Lutheran University; the Defense Language Institute/Monterey; and Cal State Northridge, where she received her bachelor’s degree in French. She met Joe Phelps in 1979, when they were team members on the Honda account at Grey Advertising in Los Angeles. She later became the alumni director for the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Sylvie married Joe in 1982 and became a founding director of The Phelps Group, one of California’s leading marketing communication agencies. For years, while raising their two children, Douglas and Emilie, she held various positions in the agency, including accountant, proofreader and mentor to many young mothers. A staunch conservationist, she led the agency’s sustainability efforts, which included its investment in solar power. The solar-energy system installed on the company’s building at 901 Wilshire accounted for 70 percent of the commercial solar panels installed in Santa Monica last year. Sylvie was a mom who sewed whatever Halloween costumes her kids imagined, made dinner from scratch every night and would go to any lengths to support her kids’ dreams. She was a linguist, antique collector, violist with the Santa Monica Orchestra, and a certified court-appointed special advocate (CASA) for children going through the court system in L.A. County. A member of the Brentwood Presbyterian Church, she especially enjoyed her ‘Mustard Seed’ spiritual study friends. Sylvie was a clever writer. When the family moved to the Palisades in 1985, she wrote, ‘If you’re rich, you live in Beverly Hills. If you’re famous you live in Malibu. If you’re lucky, you live in Pacific Palisades.’ She put it on a T-shirt and sold them to help pay for the kids’ nursery school. Now, 23 years later, it still sells steadily. Who you are shows in the things you love. Sylvie loved romantic comedies; the viola; bicycling to work; big dogs; small dogs if big dogs weren’t available; the grace, smell and thunder of horses; clients who pay on time; good grammar; proper punctuation; the Palmer method of handwriting; the lilt of French; Shaker furniture; subtle humor; puns; her numerous collections of little old things; blue jeans; and the ‘Big Sky’ state, Montana. Above all, she loved God, her family and friends. Her favorite saying was by John Wesley: ‘Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.’ Sylvie did just that. Sylvie is survived by her husband Joe, daughter Emilie, son Douglas, sister Susan Jacob, cousin Doug Jeffrey, seven nephews and seven nieces. Condolences to the family may be sent to memorial@thephelpsgroup.com. Memorial contributions may be sent to UCLA Brain Cancer Research, c/o T. Cloughesy, M.D., 710 Westwood Plaza, Suite 1-230, Los Angeles, CA 90095. A memorial gathering will be scheduled for January.
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