Sylvia May (Smith) McKinney passed away in her sleep on June 30, 2014 at Mansfield Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Storrs. She was a long-time resident of Coventry.
Born on May 18, 1915 in the Pitkin House in Manchester, she was the daughter of the late
Charles H. Smith and Amy Storrs Loomis Smith. She was raised in Manchester and was a
graduate of Manchester High School, class of 1933. Sylvia worked as a secretary at Aetna Life
and Casualty. She married Thomas D. McKinney on July 6, 1940 at the Second Congregational
Church of Coventry. The couple were musicians in a family orchestra and were active in church
and community affairs after their move to Coventry from 1949 until they retired to assisted
living in 2006. Sylvia held various secretarial positions in small businesses around the region.
Later she worked in the Alumni Office and Speech and Hearing Department at the University of
Connecticut, retiring in the early 1980s.
Sylvia leaves her sister, Clara Smith Hutt of Coventry, her niece Priscilla Hutt Williams of
Townsend, Massachusetts, and her nephew Bruce Charles Hutt of Coventry. She is also survived
by sisters-in-law Gladys M. Congdon of North Clarendon, Vermont and Loretta M. Hanson of
Davis, California. She was pre-deceased by her husband Thomas and her niece Barbara M.
Thomas. In addition, she leaves 7 other nieces and nephews, and innumerable great-nieces,
great-nephews, great-great nieces and great-great nephews.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, July 3 at the Second Congregational Church of
Coventry at 2 pm. Burial will follow in Center Cemetery, Coventry. There are no calling hours.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Memorial Fund of Second
Congregational Church, 1746 Boston Turnpike, Coventry, CT 06238. For online condolences please visit www.pietrasfuneralhome.com