Sylvia Rodwell, award-winning dog handler, dies at 85

Sylvia Rodwell, an award-winning dog handler, with one of her prize-winning Great Danes. Sylvia lived in the Sun City community for 21 years.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday for Sylvia Florence Rodwell, a longtime local resident who passed away March 31 at the age of 85.

Sylvia lived in the Sun City community for 21 years, after spending 17 years as a Canyon Lake resident. She was a professional dog handler for 44 years and is ranked as the No. 1 dog handler of all time, with 37 consecutive titles in showing and handling Great Danes.

Born on Oct. 10, 1935 in Kensington, England, Sylvia and her husband moved to Canada when she was 17. Finding the cold climate too much like their native England, the couple set out for the U.S., riding a Harley Davidson motorcycle down the west coast. The couple settled in Long Beach.

After they were victims of a robbery, Sylvia’s husband bought three Great Danes to protect his wife and their home. A handler who saw the great condition of their dogs encouraged their work with the Great Danes, and the couple began showing the dogs. This continued after they moved to Garden Grove. Eventually, Sylvia moved to Canyon Lake and then Sun City.

Sylvia is survived by her daughter, Teresa Gershon of Naples, Florida, and two grandchildren. Services will be held in the Skyrose Tent at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, 3888 Workman Mill Road, Wednesday at 9 a.m.