Mary E. Silvia

She was born December 17, 1953 in Fall River to Leon E. and Marcella M. (Medeiros) Jean. She earned her degree from Roger Williams University and worked for 22 years as an Ophthalmologist Technician at the Center for Eye Health in Fall River before retiring in 2022. She was excellent at her job, and she was even a better mother.

Mary fought for her family every single day. She cheered the loudest at games. She bragged about her sons to anyone who would listen, and plenty who would not. She was not just the standard for the kind of person her boys would one day love, she was the yardstick. The women those men married showed up without being asked when things got hard, because they knew what Mary would have done. She had already shown them.

She loved the ocean and lighthouses, traveling and cruising with Richard, her garden, cooking for a full house, and crafting in her quieter years. Her home was the kind of place people did not want to leave. That was not an accident. That was Mary.

Richard was her husband for 41 years and he was by her side until her last breath, having made the most of every moment they had together. When he knew, he knew. And he never stopped showing it.

She was deeply loved by her son, Matthew Jensen and his spouse Tina; her grandchildren, Skyla and Shane, and her great-granddaughter, Lily; her son Scott Jensen and his spouse Diane; her grandchildren Kara and Ryan, and her son Michael Silvia and his wife Nicole; her sister Sheila Haskins of Middletown; her brother Edward Jean of El Paso, TX; her nieces and nephews Eric, Christopher, Elizabeth, Katherine, and Emmy and Natalie; and a number of friends and loved ones that no list could do justice to. She was preceded in death by her brother Paul Jean.

If you still have your mom around, call her tonight. Save the voicemail. Tell her you love her.

Her visitation will be held Thursday, March 12, 2026, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Waring-Sullivan Home at Birchcrest, 189 Gardners Neck Road, Swansea. Relatives and friends are invited. Funeral and burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes you to have a tree planted in Mary’s honor. Please visit The Trees Remember at thetreesremember.com to do so.