Jan Catherine Sy, daughter of SM Prime Holdings chair Henry Sy Jr. and granddaughter of the late mall tycoon Henry Sy Sr., died on Thursday, her family announced in a statement. She was 29.
“Dear Family and Friends, tonight, March 18, 2021 at 6:35 pm, our dearest daughter Jan Catherine Sy is now with the Lord Jesus already. Blessed be the name of the LORD. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, BLESSED BE YOUR NAME!” the statement said.
The statement was shared on social media through Sy’s relatives.
Sy was the eldest of three children of “Big Boy” Sy Jr. She served as assistant vice president and project director for SM Development Corporation (SMDC), the residential development arm of the family business run by her father.
In 2019, she launched The Good Guys, SMDC’s community development program.
Esquire.com described Jan Catherine Sy as “a nature lover, devout Christian, and passionate equestrienne, having trained in the sport all throughout her childhood.”
Sen. Joel Villanueva, a fellow Christian and close friend of Sy Jr., offered his sympathies to the Sys.
Previous social posts showed that Jan Catherine may have been exposed to bacteria which led to her confinement. On Thursday morning, she was reported to be in critical condition from septic shock.
Sy graduated with a degree in business and economics at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
“I didn’t grow up on computer games; I’m not used to staring at the screen. I was the kid who played outside and climbed trees,” she said.
Sy was also an equestrienne and competed in international events.
Her grandfather Henry Sy Sr, who founded the SM Group and became the Philippines’ richest man, died on January 19, 2019, at the age of 94.
