Arthur "Art" Silver's Obituary
Arthur “Art” Silver, age 73, passed away on Wednesday, August 9, 2017. He was born in Trenton, NJ to Abe and Pauline Silver but he didn’t stay there long. His family moved to Miami when he was a year old and then to Homestead, Florida when he was 10. He lived in Homestead for most of his life. It was there where Art helped to build a community. He worked at Redland Supply Company, Inc. on Mowry Drive for the 53 years the Silver family owned it, starting at the age of six, and eventually expanded the business to another location in the Redlands for irrigation supply to the nurseries. For a short time in his early 20s, he worked for Edward Branam at Branam Funeral Home and drove an ambulance. This job generated an endless supply of wild stories of rescues and shenanigans. His work at Branam was a short hiatus from his tenure at Redland Supply, and soon he would return to the family business.
He was heavily involved in the community, from serving on the Advisory Board of Community Bank, to offering plumbing advice in the newspaper. After Hurricane Andrew devastated Homestead, Art loaded his wife and one of his daughters into their van - broken windows and all - and went to Homestead Middle School to pack meals for the Red Cross. He also helped to restore the nurseries by delaying their invoices until they were up and running, and selling replacement parts and generators for the same prices as before the storm, sometimes at cost. He always seemed to know everything and everyone came to him for advice, and sometimes they’d even just stop into the store for a good story or chat. He and his father worked with UF IFAS and Israel to create drip irrigation allowing for farming in extremely dry environments. He employed many people over the years and made sure that his employees were paid before he took home a check for himself, and during lean years, that meant sometimes not taking one at all. He was very proud of his store and delivered pipe himself until he sold the business in his 60s. Art was an avid R/C airplane modeler and was president of the Aero Modelers of Perrine (AMPs) for two decades. He was integral in the purchase of land which led to a beautifully developed site for future aero modelers. The club named it AMPs Silver Field in his honor. He also served as president for the Tri-County R/C in Dunnellon, FL.
He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Carol (Grosswald) Silver, who he was never without, two daughters, Marci Silver and Stephanie (Silver) Robison, his sister, Deborah (Silver) Sierra, two sons-in-law, Aaron Brami and Joseph Robison and two grandchildren, Molly and Sam. He loved his family very much. When his daughters were children, there were family barbeques with both his and his wife’s families, holiday dinners with huge tables of people, and trips to see Space Shuttle launches and the World’s Fair. There were Disney trips, and one summer of a “tour of Florida theme parks.” He never missed a recital, play or graduation. He made a point of paying every dime of his two daughters’ college educations. He desperately wanted grandchildren and was never happier than when he held each of them on the days they were born. Art also lived in Beverly Hills, Florida and Gainesville, Florida in his later years.
Graveside service is being held on Sunday, August 13, 2017 at 11 a.m. at The B’nai Israel Cemetery at Williston Road/11th St and East University Ave in Gainesville, Florida. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the American Diabetes Association or the University of Florida Diabetes Institute.
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