Norman Jay Silbertrust was born in Oak Park, Illinois in 1925, the oldest child of Lila (nee Skolnick) and Jack Silbertrust. He lived a long and rich life filled with education, work, family, and travel. He enlisted in WWII, but was sent to Iowa State instead of overseas. After completing a BS in Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology, he studied at the Univ. of Chicago’s Great Book Program and Columbia University’s Philosophy Department. Several years conducting research at Edwards Air Force Base during the Korean War interrupted his Ph.D. work, which he opted not to complete. Instead, most of his working life was spent on the development of medical instruments, first lasers and then endoscopes. His passion for learning was wide-ranging, as were his travel destinations, especially after he retired as COO of Karl Storz Endoscopy America, where he spent the last 25 years of his working life.
His thirty-year marriage to Jerry (nee Rose Kathleen Boyd) ended when she died from cancer in 1986. Although she could not accompany him into retirement, he kept her in his heart and made good on his promise to never re-marry. His two sisters, Francine Goldberg and Shirley Ann Silbertrust, whom he visited frequently, also pre-deceased him.
He died peacefully on February 19, 2020, at the age of 94. He is survived by his daughter Dea Silbertrust, his son-in-law Wayne Welsh, and his beloved grand-daughter Ilana Welsh.
In accordance with his wishes, there will be no memorial services. Donations may be made in his honor to Philabundance or Habitat for Humanity.
“I’ve been very lucky in this life.” We are lucky you were so long in ours.
