Robert "Bob" Silber

1928 - 2017

Robert L. "Bob" Silber

Richmond, VA

SILBER, Robert "Bob" Lee, an innovator in science education, died peacefully at home on August 31, 2017, in Richmond, VA.

With wit, creativity and love, Bob led an extraordinary life from his origins in rural Indiana and Florida to a career traveling the world to bring science to life for students. He was a teacher at Central High School, in Evansville, Indiana, where in 1957, according to Time magazine; he received the first National Institutes of Health grant to a high school teacher. This led to service on the historic CHEM Study project led by Nobel Laureate Glenn Seaborg and in 1960, recruitment to the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C. He later served as Executive Director of both the National Science Teachers Association and the Foundation for Exceptional Children and was elected President of the International Council of Associations for Science Education. He was an avid gardener, an unrelenting St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan, holder of several patents, an amateur stone sculptor and in later life moved to Estes Park, Colorado, before retiring near Richmond, Va.

He is survived by his wife, Phyllis (Brock) Silber; and his children, Deborah (Thomas) Insel, Randall (Lisa) Silber and Gregory Silber; six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick Joseph Silber and Evelyn Carey Morlock; his first wife, Wanda Mae Maier in 1976, and his brother, Frederick Ralph Silber.

Graveside Service and Burial will be on September 30, 2017, at 12 p.m. at Stillwell Cemetery on Highway 68 in Posey County, IN, with gathering to follow in the Great Room at New Harmony Inn.

Arrangements are being handled by Boone Funeral Home East Chapel-A Family Tradition Funeral Home, 5330 Washington Ave., Evansville.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to the The Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Avenue, Nebraska City, NE 68410, The National Audubon Society, 225 Varick St, 7th Fl., New York, NY 10014, or a charity of your choice.