Daniel B. Silver

Daniel Silver Obituary

SILVER

DANIEL B. SILVER

Daniel B. Silver, 81, died of cancer on September 26, 2022, at home with Sybil, his wife of almost 60 years. Dan studied as a cultural anthropologist, doing field work in Chiappas, Mexico in the early1960s, before establishing a career as a successful international lawyer, practicing in Washington DC, Paris, and Brussels. He also spent a period in government service as General Counsel of the National Security Agency and then of the CIA. He served as a board member and officer of several cultural and civil rights organizations. He is the author of a non-fiction book about the Jewish Hospital in Berlin in Nazi Germany and co-author of an anthropological monograph on shamanism in a Mexican Indian community. Dan was a potter and a classical singer and active in various musical groups in the Washington DC area.

Dan was always a strong crusader for justice, from his days as the editor of the Berkeley student newspaper taking a stand against McCarthyism, to his pro bono work on behalf of disability and civil rights. He will be remembered for his wicked sense of humor, his sense of adventure, and his unwillingness to turn around or ask directions, no matter how lost he got.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Abby Silver (William Brinker), Rachel Silver (Francois Gaultier) and Alexander Silver (Hui Ma) and his grandchildren, Lena and Charlotte Gaultier and Aaron Silver, as well as many devoted relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Prof. Samuel Silver and Marjorie Euster Silver Deitz, and his sister, Deborah Silver Brewer. A graveside service was held on September 29, 2022. A Zoom memorial service will be held on October 2, 2022.

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Published by The Washington Post on Oct. 1, 2022.

Memories and Condolences
for Daniel Silver

9 Entries

Mark A. Michelson

September 27, 2024

I have reviewed the messages submitted a year ago, including my own. After this additional year of his absence I can now only add that the importance of the space that he filled in the family and in the world is clearer than ever.

Mark A. Michelson

September 25, 2023

Dan married my very close cousin Syb not long before I married Kim. The four of us got along very well at once, and they invited us to visit and travel with them in Central America. Despite not faring well on the trip I had a very good time with them. They must have felt the same, and the four of us decided that we should 'do this again'.

So as our respective 50th anniversaries came into view the four of us did it again, this time in Africa, and had an even better time, both on the trip and with each other. Less dramatically, Kim and I were also able to reunite with Dan and Syb at their house in Vermont from our house in New Hampshire, with some frequency and great pleasure, giving added life to our summers.

On each trip and each visit I admired Dan's abilities, his company and his friendship (and I quietly envied his singing). Even though I knew of his fatal cancer I never saw or heard any signs of depression or even anger as he bravely faced his known fate.

His loss is a wound to those lucky enough to have been close to him.

Mr Belfond, Paris

October 12, 2022

Dear Ms Silver,

We are very sorry to hear about Mr Silver's passing. We plan to republish next Spring his essay on the Jewish hospital in Berlin in the French language. Please kindly indicate the contact of the agent or publisher in charge of its translattion rights to this work.
Yours,

With kind wishes,

Jean-Daniel Belfond
L´Archipel, Archipoche, Presses du Châtelet, Ecriture
92 avenue de France
75013 Paris
Tél : 01 55 80 77 40
https://www.éditionsarchipel.com
[email protected]

Doug Kliever

October 11, 2022

Dear Sybil,

My deepest sympathy and condolences to you and your family. Dan and I arrived on Cleary´s doorstep the same year. He was a valued and respected colleague. And a friend. With a sense of humor-he once appeared at an office Halloween party as a mortgage-backed security. His integrity as a lawyer and public servant was unquestionable. And I know he valued his family above all else.

Doug Kliever

Peter Russell

October 2, 2022

All of us at Vocal Arts DC were blessed by Dan's leadership as our President over the span of nearly three decades. He led by example, giving his time, resources, Renaissance mind and boundless love of music to life our organization. We will remember him always.

Richard deC. Hinds

October 2, 2022

I remember Dan as a law partner, advisor on many things from the law to health insurance and an engaging lunch partner for many years. He dived into so many different things like researching the history of the Jewish Hospital in Berlin under the Nazis, choral singing, bringing lawsuits to require movie theaters to accommodate disabled persons, and travel. He was a true renaissance man that those who knew him will long remember.

Anonymous

October 2, 2022

I love you and miss you. Thank you for everything.

Jack McGaughy

October 1, 2022

As a fellow singer with the Paul Hill Chorale, I remember many brief but pleasant encounters with Dan at rehearsals and concerts.

A fellow Glen Echo Pottery student.

October 1, 2022

Among a multitude of great attributes, Dan´s dedication to pottery will be truly missed. Such a great guy.

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