Sylvia Nichols McElhone Armitta, 73, of Sale Creek TN and formerly of Watertown, NY and Thousand Oaks, CA passed away unexpectedly due to a sudden illness on May 23, 2017 at the University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville after a 34 year fight with cancer. Sylvia was born July 29, 1943, daughter of the late Phyllis Watkins and the late William Nichols at Mercy Hospital in Watertown. She grew up in the city and attended Watertown High School from which she graduated in 1961. She married the love of her life, Thomas McElhone, on March 3, 1962, a union which endured more than 55 years. Sylvia worked as a volunteer with the Head Start preschool program in Watertown. She earned an Associate degree in Liberal Arts from Jefferson Community College in 1975, after which the family moved to Thousand Oaks, CA. She went on to earn both Bachelor and Master's degrees in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling from California State University at Northridge, which she completed in 1988. Sylvia worked at Interface Family Services of Ventura County CA for more than 15 years, running a battered women's shelter and doing family and child counseling. Over her long career she helped many people and touched many lives. In retirement she and her husband enjoyed traveling. They were able to return to the Northern NY for summers on Black River Bay in recent years and to share the area with their grandchildren. Sylvia is survived by her husband Tom, two sons- Mark Nichols and Michael (Dawn) McElhone of Sale Creek, TN, four grandchildren- Jessica and Andrew McElhone of Sale Creek TN, Hunter Nichols of Oak Park CA, and Alyssa Moore of Los Angeles CA, two brothers- Gordon (Lydia) McConnell of Lakeland FL and Rick McConnell of Middletown NY, as well as a large extended family across the United States. A celebration of Sylvia's life is scheduled at All Souls Universalist Church, 1330 Gotham Street, Watertown NY on Thursday July 27th, 2017 at 1 PM. Local arrangements are with Johnson Funeral Home in Dexter. Online condolences may be sent to dexterfuneralhome.com.