Sylvia Platzer Mitchell

1940 - 2025

May 30, 1940 – February 28, 2025
Sylvia Platzer Mitchell, surrounded by loving family, passed away peacefully at home at age 84 due to gastrointestinal complications. A native of Austria, Sylvia first came to Washington at age 10 when her father accepted a position as Counselor at the Austrian Embassy in 1950. Despite knowing no English, she quickly befriended her classmates at Blessed Sacrament School and excelled academically. After returning to Vienna for high school and graduating at the top of her class, she came back to Washington in summer 1958 upon her father's appointment as Austria's Ambassador to the United States. She enrolled at Georgetown University as a French major. That October, at the National Symphony Orchestra's season-opening concert at Constitution Hall, she met Georgetown law student Glenn Mitchell, eldest son of NSO conductor Howard Mitchell. Glenn and Sylvia were married in 1961 at St. Matthew's Cathedral and raised seven children together in Chevy Chase.

Sylvia was proud of her Austrian heritage, was an avid skier and tennis player, enjoyed attending countless concerts of orchestral music and opera, loved to cook and bake for her family (especially the Viennese chocolate delicacy Sachertorte on her kids' birthdays), and had a strong devotion to her Catholic faith. Her greatest joy was spending time with Glenn and their children and grandchildren at the family's "camp" on Lake Champlain in Vermont.

Sylvia is survived by six children: Christopher (Constance) of Washington, DC; Thomas (Janene) of Chevy Chase, MD; Byron (Michelle) of Fredericksburg, VA; Stefanie (Miles Waite) of Burlington, VT; Michael (Jamie) of Chevy Chase, MD; and Karen of Perry, FL; a brother, Wolfgang Platzer of Medford, OR; as well as 17 grandchildren. She was predeceased by her parents, Wilfried and Edith Platzer; her loving husband of 57 years, Glenn; and their third son, Eric.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be on March 15 at 11 a.m. at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 3630 Quesada Street NW, Washington, DC 20015. Reception to follow at Columbia Country Club. Interment on a later date at Grandview Cemetery in Charlotte, VT. In lieu of flowers, donations in Sylvia's memory may be made to Georgetown Preparatory School, alma mater of her five sons.