Amelia milie Silvestri

Amelia ?Millie? Silvestri, 93, died peacefully Dec. 12 at Avery Heights in Hartford. Besides being a loving wife and mother and caring friend, Millie was a dedicated employee of Trinity College for about 45 years and was prominent in the Hartford theater and arts scene for some 60 years. A lifelong resident of Hartford, she was the daughter of Angelo and Lena Garofolo and the widow of Panfilo J. Silvestri. She was predeceased by her brothers Thomas and Alfred. She leaves a son, Peter B. Silvestri of Hartford, a brother, Dominic of Florida, and several nieces and nephews including Alfred Garofolo of Newington and Donna (Garofolo) Ahern of Florida. Millie graduated from Bulkeley High School in 1930 and attended the Randall School of the Arts. She was a secretary at the Travelers Insurance Company for several years. Beginning in 1956, she worked full-time in the Public Relations Office at Trinity College for nearly 25 years and then served Trinity part-time as director of the Poetry Center for another 20 years. Millie was a lifelong participant in and advocate for the arts, which she valued as expression of our shared humanity and a way to connect with other people. She found her special love for the theater about 1940 when she joined the Hartford Players, whose members included Chick Austin of the Wadsworth Atheneum. Over the next 40 years Millie won rave reviews playing lead roles with several area theater groups, including New Britain Repertory, the Oval in the Grove summer theater in Farmington, the Trinity College Jesters, and the Image Playhouse in Hartford. Her many memorable stage portrayals included Sadie Thompson in Rain, Blanche DuBois in Streetcar Named Desire, Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Queen Gertrude in Hamlet, and the title role in Mother Courage. In her later years she did many theater readings with the late Hal Dorsey. Millie was a friend of the late Holly Stevens, daughter of the poet Wallace Stevens, and was active in the Hartford Friends of Wallace Stevens. At Avery Heights Millie kept busy arranging cultural events as member of the residents? Program Committee. There are no calling hours. A graveside service will be held at 12 noon on Wednesday (Dec. 27) in Section O at Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield. The D?Esopo Funeral Chapel of Wethersfield has charge of arrangements.