Sydney Frymire Obituary (1949) - Springfield, Virginia

Sydney Frymire LCSW-C, Certified Leadership Coach Sydney was born July 1, 1949, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was the oldest of five. Her parents were Louis Jackson Frymire, MD, and Agnes Louise McCalmont Frymire. Sydney is survived by her two children, Andrew Wildey Kirkpatrick and his wife Kristin Arlene Kirkpatrick; their two sons Jake and Boden; Dana Louise Kirkpatrick; 9 nieces and nephews; their ten children, her first cousin Gwen Overturf, her husband Eddie White and their daughter Jesse. Sydney attended The Ellis School in Pittsburgh from kindergarten through 12th grade and graduated with BSJ from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. She attended the Catholic University of America and earned a Master of Social Work in 1985. As a foster care social worker, she worked at For Love of Children until 1988. In 1988, she started working in community mental health centers for the Montgomery County Government. She became a shop steward and Vice President for Local 1994 and enjoyed making decisions to enhance the lives of large numbers of people in addition to making friends. As a Certified Leadership Coach and Clinical Social Worker, Sydney coached mid-career and retired professionals who sought to combine their work experience and skills to create purposeful lives. She combined her love of trekking in the Himalayan Mountains with her skills as a social worker and coach to create the Trek of Your Life (TOYL) coaching programs. In addition to the ones she offers in the United States, she started yearly TOYL journeys to Nepal, which she organized, that gave participants an opportunity for a life-altering experience. The trips to Nepal offered adventurous souls the opportunity for an inner and outer journey exploring values across cultural lines. Since 2011, she has taken 15 groups, about 150 people between the ages of 21-83, couples, single people, father-son, and mother-daughter teams. 22.5 years working as a Clinical Social Worker for Montgomery County and in private practice, she left her job in October 2011. At that time, she became President of the Washington Society of Clinical Social Work, then co-chair of the Leadership Committee, and Co-Chair of the Professional Development Committee. In 2019, she and her daughter, Dana Louise, bought and completely restored a church built in 1884 in Kingston, NY. In 2021, her Daughter Dana Louise sold it at a profit. Sydney lived in Kingston until April 2023. She was an active member of Ulster Indivisible and worked canvassing and registering people to vote. Much of her time was devoted to training and workshops for staff of anti-human trafficking groups in Nepal and her private practice in Maryland and New York until April 30, 2023, when she was diagnosed with ALS. Once she was diagnosed, she moved back to DC to receive care from the ALS clinic at George Washington University Hospital.