Clarksville Obituary: Sinclair Hylton Largin

Clarksville, TN – Sinclair Hylton Largin grew up in Martinsville, Virginia, as the youngest daughter of eleven siblings. Her parents originally wanted her name to be Saint Claire, but a paperwork slip turned it into “Sinclair” on all her documents.

So- those who knew her called her Saint, while at work and everywhere else, she was called Sinclair or “Sin”. No matter which name someone used, she smiled and answered and seemed perfectly comfortable with both.

She grew up fast in rural Virginia, overcoming an illness and surgery which plagued her early childhood.. She was named Most Athletic at George Washington Carver High School and graduated with the class of 1957. Soon after graduation, she married James Largin and in 1963 they moved to Clarksville, Tennessee, where they raised their family and built Largin Painting Company, Inc. from the ground up.

But Sinclair was more than a business partner. In a pivotal decade for American civil rights, Sinclair quietly made history – integrating South Central Bell’s telephone call center as its first Black operator, and graduating as one of the first three Black women from the Austin Peay Licensed Practical Nurse program in 1964, at a time when that was the highest nursing degree open to Black women. She never made a big deal of it. She just showed up and did the work – for more than fifty years, in hospitals and clinics and homes across Nashville and Clarksville, right through retirement at Meharry Medical College.

Outside of work, Sinclair was an athlete, an entrepreneur, and knew how to have good time. She played softball for the Birchwood Bombers and the Screaming Eagles – and yes, she hit her share of home runs. She was a fixture on bowling leagues, winning solo and group awards. When her playing days wound down, she became an avid Atlanta Braves fan, a devoted tennis aficionado, and could still be found in a cornhole game in the yard when the spirit moved her.

She also crocheted, won at the casino, and – at various points in her life -sold Amway, bras, and insurance. Whatever her family needed, she found a way to provide it. Sinclair was resourceful in the truest sense of the word. She was a genuine friend and a devoted parent who loved and defended her children fiercely.

She is preceded in death by her parents (John & Powell Hylton), siblings (John, James, Robert, Joseph, Henry, Leslie, Amanda, Lelia, Lucy, Thelma), daughters Tammy Largin & Gina Williams, and daughter-in-law Beverly Largin.

Sinclair is survived by her daughter Vernita (Rodriguez) Todd of San Diego, CA; sons Alvin Largin and John (Valecia) Largin of Clarksville, TN; 11 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; 1 great-great-grandchild; and a beloved community of nieces, nephews, and many lifelong friends.