Louis Leonard SILVERS

SILVERS Louis Leonard, 92, died on November 25, 2009 after a 4-month battle with colon cancer. He was born in Brooklyn, NY on November 24, 1917 where he attended Boys High School, graduating with honors in 1934. He then went on to attend the City College of NY on full scholarship and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering in 1940.During the Second World War, Mr. Silvers served his country as an engineer at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia in the piping section which made sure that all the piping systems aboard the U.S. Navy's destroyers, cruisers, battleships, aircraft carriers, and hospital ships were operating satisfactorily.While on personal leave in 1943 when his father died suddenly, Louis met his future wife, Sonia Bernstein, a dental assistant and figure skater, in New York City, and they were married the next year.After the war, Mr. and Mrs. Silvers lived in Teaneck and Englewood, NJ and eventually settled in Demarest, NJ in 1961. Mr. Silvers began his professional engineering career with Grady and Meyers, a small engineering firm, and eventually went on to work for UniRoyal (U.S. Rubber Company) and then Bristol-Myers Squibb Company from where he retired in 1982. For the next six years, he remained active as an engineering consultant. Mr. Silvers was a member of the Professional Engineers Society for his entire career.Besides being an avid reader, Mr. Silvers enjoyed playing tennis and learning about astronomy. He built his own personal telescope at the Hayden Planetarium which he used to study the heavens. In addition, he enjoyed designing and making his own furniture as well as performing his own electrical and plumbing repairs and improvements."Louis Silvers was an incredible human being. Besides being gifted with a stellar intellect and an insatiable curiosity, he also possessed a wondrous self-deprecating wit and a kindly, easy-going disposition. He was a real family man and had a great passion for life. People just seemed to gravitate to him," according to his son Dennis.In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons: Dr. Stewart Silvers (Elizabeth) of Scotia, NY, Dr. Dennis Silvers (Sally) of Andover, MA and Dr. Robert Silvers (Jacqueline) of Chicago, IL; two grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.The burial was Nov. 27, 2009 at Cedar Park Cemetery, Paramus, NJ.