Warren Silver

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Warren Silver of Eastham, 84, on November 2, 2024. He was born on July 14, 1940 in the Bronx, NY, and later moved to Waldwick, then Ramsey, NJ where he met the love of his life, Susan. They raised their children, Amy, Juliann, and Andrew, in New Milford, NJ while he worked as a guidance counselor and swimming, tennis, and baseball coach in the Yonkers Public Schools. After 34 years of service, in 1999, he retired to Eastham and enjoyed over 25 years of retirement with Susan. They would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this December.

Warren’s love for music sustained his heart and soul throughout his life. He played clarinet and bass clarinet as a teenager until his last days. At age 14, he became the youngest member of the Waldwick Fire Department Band. While studying music education at Ithaca College, he performed in their concert band. He was proud to be acknowledged for his maturity and technique. He was interpretive and expressive in style, and was moved by other musicians who would play in the same manner. He continued to keep music in his life using his tenor voice in church choir and locally in the Chatham Chorale. Warren also performed in and conducted the Lower Cape Concert Band.

Warren always enjoyed being near water, especially sailing on it. He took pride in his knowledge and experience in sailing. He was a purist at the rudder, never having a motor on board, but rather a paddle and his knowledge of how to use the wind. Before retiring to the Cape, he enjoyed sailing the Hudson River out of Nyack, NY. He fully restored a 1940’s wooden Thistle sailboat and proudly sailed and competed in many regattas. It was selected to be used as a period boat in Robert Redford’s 1994 movie Quiz Show, for which Warren was on set teaching actor Ralph Feinnes to sail for a scene in the movie. During his retirement on the Cape, Warren was hired to coach the Nauset High School Sailing Team, and led them to many award winning seasons, and in 2010 placing 4th in New England. He was very proud of his sailors, many of whom continued to sail competitively in college. During the summer months, he directed a junior sailing program at Orleans Yacht Club and taught many young sailors the love of the water, wind, and sail, including his grandchildren.

Warren was healthy and athletic throughout his life. He enjoyed swimming and lifeguarding, which is how he met Susan on her 17th birthday. His love of waterfront activities led him to managerial jobs at various swimming holes, camps, and country clubs, where he also developed an interest in playing golf and tennis. He made many friends on the golf courses and tennis courts in NJ and Cape Cod. Even when he was no longer able to play tennis, he continued to keep a hand in the sport by stringing racquets. His love of these sports was shared through his coaching hundreds of young people in swimming, baseball, tennis, and sailing. He loved coaching because he loved the sports. But what he loved more was developing that love in others through his kind, supportive coaching. He was uplifted by the joy and success of those he coached. He was very proud of his legacy in coaching, so much so that he kept a notebook entitled “Moments in Coaching” in which he collected many anecdotes that filled him with pride, and sometimes tears.

Despite Warren’s healthy lifestyle, he fought against the struggles of cardiac disease throughout the second half of his life. His first heart attack led to triple bypass surgery in his 50’s. Since then, he survived several more heart attacks, and received multiple stents, a valve replacement, and a pacemaker defibrillator. Warren began volunteering his time with Mended Hearts of Cape Cod as a way to give peer to peer support to other cardiac patients. He loved sharing his own experiences and successes, giving hope and comfort to patients in Cape Cod Hospital. He served as his chapter’s president between 2018-2022. When it became difficult for him to make the rounds in person, he continued the mission of service by phone or virtual calls. He was very proud to share his personal cardiac experiences in the hope that it would uplift and support patients experiencing similar struggles. Warren was the embodiment of the Mended Hearts motto: “It’s great to be alive and to help others”.

Although Warren had many loves in his life, his strongest love was for his wife, Susan. Their love story began on her 17th birthday. He was the lifeguard at the lake where Susan and her friends went to celebrate her birthday. That spark grew into a love story that spanned over 66 years. They were married on December 26, 1964. They had three wonderful children, Amy, Juliann, and Andrew. They created a loving home filled with love and support. They spent every summer visiting the Cape as a family. During the 1970’s and 80’s, they took jobs at summer camps as the nurse and waterfront director, which allowed their children to enjoy being campers. They were proud to see their three children become strong adults who went on to start their own families, always guided and inspired by the love and respect modeled by Warren and Susan in their marriage. Warren was also a proud grandfather to Elizabeth, Eddie, James, Finn, Leigh, and Oban. Warren and Susan loved their grandparent time hosting “the week (or weeks) without the parents” with Elizabeth and Eddie, and sometimes with James and Finn, each summer, creating many wonderful experiences together.

Warren will always be remembered for his infinite collection of jokes. All you needed to do was give a keyword, and he could access a joke around it. We will always remember Warren’s favorite foods, including Milano cookies, Dr. Pepper soda, corn (in EVERYTHING!), potato latkes, and especially pepperoni pizza - “put that pepperoni on like you’re shingling a roof” he’d tell the pizzeria.

Warren was a brother, husband, father, uncle, father-in-law, student, lifeguard, speed skater, cross-country skier, manager, musician, teacher, guidance counselor, woodworker, handyman, mechanic, golfer, swimmer, tenor, waterfront director, sailor, sailboat restorer, swim coach, tennis coach, baseball coach, sailing coach, tennis pro, mentor, band conductor, racquet stringer, volunteer, fighter, survivor, joke teller, and friend. He will be forever missed by the many people who know and love him.

Warren is survived by his wife, Susan: his brother Joseph Silver and his wife Kitty; his brother Dennis Silver and his wife Patricia; his sister Kathy McKenney; his daughter Amy Silver Desmond, husband Larry, and son Eddie; his daughter Juliann Kemp, (late husband Daniel), and daughter Elizabeth; and his son Andrew Silver, wife Hannah Petrone, and children James, Finn, Leigh, and Oban.

Anyone who knows Warren is invited to his Celebration of Life on Saturday, November 16th at 11:00 AM at Nickerson Funeral Home, 77 Eldridge Park Way, Orleans, MA. During the Celebration, personal remarks are welcome and encouraged. In lieu of flowers, Warren and his family request that donations be made to Mended Hearts of Cape Cod, an organization with a mission that was so close to his “mended heart”.

https://www.capecodmendedhearts.com/donate

Checks made out to:

Mended Hearts Chapter 315

35 Polaris Drive

Mashpee, MA 02649