Eileen Fine Silber

She was born and raised in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, the firstborn of George and Rebecca Fine. The first in her family to attend college, she graduated from the University of Toronto in 1952.

After university, Eileen moved to the US to train at the Clarke School for Hearing and Speech; certificate in hand, she taught at the New Jersey School for the Deaf 1953-1955. Studying for a master's degree in audiology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, she found herself annoyed by the charms of a medical student cutting up in the library. She married David Silber in May 1957, four days after submitting her thesis. She had four children in six years: Cathy, Todd, Neil and Jane.

David’s career in pediatrics took them to Tennessee, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, and, in 1982, Greensboro. After her first child was born, Eileen continued working in audiology and speech pathology at Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center for a year or two but then devoted herself primarily to motherhood. All her children remember awakening to kisses on the forehead or shouts down the clothes chute in appalling French, the picnics, the backyard haircuts, her endless war with squirrels raiding the birdfeeder, her impressive collections of bathrobes and eyeglasses and lost coffee mugs, and her artful management of a household of six with only child labor for help.

Once all the kids were in school, Eileen began advocating on local and national issues. Long active in the League of Women Voters, she opposed anti-ballistic missiles in the sixties and fought hard for the Equal Rights Amendment in the seventies, pulling her elder daughter into the fray right along with her. She became an American citizen in 1969 because she wanted to vote here.

She also discovered an entrepreneurial bent, founding a political consultancy, becoming a successful real estate agent and, eventually, owning and running two Hallmark stores, though sometimes it seemed they were simply a venue for customers to seek her advice and companionship. Many will remember Eileen's Hallmark in Greensboro's Golden Gate Shopping Center.

Her deft leadership and tireless advocacy, her wisdom and compassion, and her dedication to righting wrongs all found focus in the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She and David discovered NAMI when their son, Todd, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. They quickly devoted themselves to helping build and lead NAMI Guilford and NAMI NC; they served in turn on the NAMI national board. Eileen also served on the executive committee of the NAMI State Presidents' Council and the Guilford County Area Board for Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse. One of the most meaningful of her many accolades was NAMI NC's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, when she still had twenty- five years of achievements to go.

Her impact through NAMI was profound. She led the effort to redefine how police approach and serve those suffering with mental illness. She fought for statewide funding for mental healthcare. She took phone calls and met with scores of people whose loved ones were in crisis, people who, in their turn, did the same for others. For all that she did for NAMI, what meant the most to her was educating and supporting families newly stricken by severe mental illness, helping them navigate the nightmare of the public mental health system she worked so hard to improve. She taught NAMI's Family to Family class for over twenty years. She was a source of strength, compassion, understanding and unvarnished truths––and was widely loved for this.

A lifelong learner with broad interests, she took countless Emeritus Society courses and, particularly after David’s death in 1998, visited archeological ruins around the world, often with her daughter Jane. Several trips to Italy spurred her to take Italian classes, which she continued into her nineties. She was always in the middle of at least one book, with a stack waiting. After moving to WellSpring in 2016, she barely slowed down; she continued with NAMI, the League of Women Voters, the Italian, and Chevra Torah at Temple Emanuel; she revived the WellSpring book club, chaired the Budget Committee, played a whole lot of bridge and made many new friends.

She was a powerhouse wearing a little old lady disguise. A “kick-ass woman,” according to a granddaughter.

Eileen is predeceased by her husband, David, and their son, Todd. Grieving her loss now are her daughters Cathy (Greensboro) and Jane (London), her son Neil and daughter-in-law Mary (Lincolnwood, IL) and their daughters, Kate (Portland, OR) and Emily (Lincolnwood).

On Thursday, September 18, there will be a burial service at the Greensboro Hebrew Cemetery at 11:00 am and a memorial service at WellSpring at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Eileen’s name to NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, 4301 Wilson Blvd., Suite 300 Arlington, VA 22203.

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