Margaret Folds Sylvest, 80, of Montgomery, passed away Wednesday, June 4, after an extended illness.
The daughter of Carl and Mary Folds, she was born on November 19, 1944, in Montgomery, Alabama. She graduated from Sidney Lanier High School and attended the University of Alabama. On June 21, 1963, she married Harold Maynard Sylvest Jr., a member of the Sylvest Poultry Farms family of Montgomery.
A classic brunette beauty with a caregiver’s heart, Margaret was well-known for her commercial fashion modeling, as well as her numerous appearances in community events. Admired for her generosity of hosting family and friends in her gracious home, she was most delighted to share countless chats around the kitchen table with a dear circle of friends, who shared many trips together to the beach and to the lake.
As a member of the Montgomery Junior Woman’s Club, she participated in numerous volunteer positions in the community. She was a current participant in the Thespian Club and a longtime member of the First Baptist Church, where she enjoyed helping with Vacation Bible School and the Conversational English program at the Caring Center.
Preceded in death by her parents and husband, she is survived by her three children, Angela Sylvest Keene, Harold Maynard Sylvest III (Trey) and his wife Wendy, and Mary Sylvest Aplin and Husband Matthew Glarrow, and by her grandchildren Jacob (Jake) Sylvest, Anne Carlson Sylvest, John Thomas Aplin, and Hannah Keene. Also surviving her are her sister Carol Ahlstrand of The Villages, FL, nephew Edward Ahlstrand and family of Pensacola, FL, niece Ashley Giere and her family of Orlando, FL.
She is also survived by several cousins as well as her sisters-in-law, Lenora Sylvest Lewis and Chris Sylvest Lester (Nathan), and their children, niece Cynthia Hardin and her family of Auburn, AL, niece Chelsea Musser and her family of Birmingham, AL, and nephew Brandon Lester and his family of Montgomery, AL.
A memorial service will be held at Leak Memory Funeral Home Sunday, June 15, at 2 p.m., preceded by visitation at 1 p.m.
Posted online on June 10, 2025
Published in Montgomery Advertiser