Kenneth Ray "Ken" Silver

- Kenneth Ray Silver -

Memorial Service: 3:00 p.m.,Thursday, March 5, 2026

Location: Weymouth Funeral Home

As quietly and as unobtrusively as had been so characteristic of him during his long career as a photojournalist, Kenneth Ray Silver, 75, slipped away from this life in the early morning hours of Thursday, February 26, 2026, at Lancashire Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Kilmarnock, Virginia. Ken, the only child of Clara Lewandowski Silver and Floyd Alois Silver, was born in Loup City, Nebraska. As his father's employment with Fairmont Foods required multiple transfers, Ken and his parents lived throughout the Midwest during his childhood.

An alumnus of the Class of 1971 at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, he studied journalism and photography. The following year, he joined the photography staff of the morning Daily Press newspaper and its former evening counterpart, The Times-Herald, in Southeastern Virginia, and Newport News became his home for the rest of his life.

As a news photographer, Ken's proficiency behind a camera was evident in assignments that captured the breadth of the newspaper's content and the interests of its readership. His "slice of life" images recorded both ordinary and extraordinary days in Hampton Roads through his mastery of general and spot news assignments as varied as coverage of severe weather, beauty pageants, train derailments, business and industry, military developments, and the natural world.

In photographing sports, Ken's artistry was on full display. His discerning eye and quick reflexes generated countless compelling images that recorded the wins and losses of local athletes as they competed at the high school, college, club, league and community levels. He often provided copy editors, who were responsible for laying out the pages of each edition on tight deadlines to accommodate news and advertising content, with suggested captions for photos he had taken.

To this day, 19 years after his retirement from the Daily Press in 2007, former coworkers from throughout the company remember his professionalism, dedication to his craft, willingness to help his colleagues, and the fact that they never heard him complain or talk disparagingly about anyone. Easily likable, he was "one of the best humans in the newsroom," recalls a longtime associate and friend. In his retirement years, Ken indulged his passions for watching movies on the big screen, as well as hunting for treasures at yard sales.

Predeceased by his parents, Ken leaves behind his special cousins, Tom Silver and Marie Starr, in Minnesota and numerous other cousins, as well as an extended "family of the heart" comprised of former coworkers who stepped up when his memory began to fail him. They made sure he was safe, comfortable, nourished, and gently cared for. To his delight, they decorated his room at the nursing facility with enlarged copies of photographs he had taken years before. As such, the images that Ken had so carefully captured for the enjoyment of others brought the comfort of the familiar back to him in his last days. Ken's adopted family of friends who helped him extensively included Buddy and Karen Norris of Hampton, and Donna Jebson and her husband, Jacob Licone, of Gloucester County.

A Memorial Service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2026 at Weymouth Funeral Home in Newport News, VA.

"Your photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees."
– Paul Strand, American Photographer and Filmmaker, 1890-1976