David Franklin Sykes of Falmouth, formerly of Lincoln, died with family by his side on December 31. He is survived by his loving wife, Dorene Sykes, his four children and their spouses: Ellen and Frederick Spencer of Winchester, Timothy and Judith Sykes of Berlin, Katharine and Jonathan Steer of Nashua, NH and Rebecca Sykes and Mary Cove of Center Sandwich, NH. He is also survived by seven grandchildren: Katharine Rosenfeld and her husband Peter, Emma Spencer, Margaret Steer, Lucy Steer, Kendall Sykes, Daniel Sykes and Laura Cove. David’s first wife, Margaret Parkhurst Sykes, the mother of his four children, died in 1990.
David was born December 4, 1929 in Philadelphia, PA to Franklin P. and Dorothy H. Sykes. He was a graduate of William Penn Charter School and Princeton University, Class of 1951. In 1952, he married Margaret Parkhurst. After enlisting and serving for two years with the US Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir, VA, they moved to Lexington when David began a lifelong career in engineering.
In 1960, they moved to Lincoln where they raised their family and where David was a longtime member of the Lincoln Board of Appeals. After being employed by Raytheon in Wayland for over thirty years, he retired in 1990 to actively pursue a variety of interests, including his two lifelong passions of sailing and choral singing.
For over four decades, David sang in the bass section of either Chorus pro Musica of Boston or Masterworks Chorale of Lexington. It was during a chorale tour of Spain that David and Dorene met in 1994. They married two years later and, in 2004, settled in Falmouth near Woods Hole. Nearby Quissett Harbor had been a favorite stop during cruises on Bellwether, his Cape Dory 36, prior to the move. On Cape Cod, David became involved in environmental issues, including serving on the Board of Trustees for the Oyster Pond Environment Trust.
David and Dorene are members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, 840 Sandwich Road, East Falmouth. A memorial service and celebration of David’s life will be held at this venue on February 11, 2017 at 11 am. In lieu of flowers, donations in his memory may be made to the Falmouth Service Center.