Florence Heath Silverstein, 91, of Farmington, CT, formerly of Norwalk, CT, died on Tuesday, June 28, 2016. She was the beloved wife for 68 years of Melvin Saul Silverstein. Born in Burlington, VT, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Kate (Story) Heath.
Florence was a graduate of Hillyer College (now the University of Hartford) where she met her future husband. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English with high honors. At Hillyer she was a member of the Student Council, active in the Political Science Club, and helped produce the Hillyer yearbook – The Vanguard. She also helped produce the Hillyer alumni newsletter for several years. She did nurses training in New Bedford, MA and became a licensed practical nurse in Connecticut. She was briefly employed by the American School for the Deaf in West Hartford. Florence was an avid gardener, a prize-winning member of the Silvermine African Violet Society, enjoyed playing the piano, and writing song lyrics for special occasions. She was active in providing guidance about the expansion of West Rocks Junior High School in Norwalk during the early 1960s. Her membership in Temple Shalom was a beloved part of her life. She was director of the pre-school program and an avid Study Group member. She was employed for many years at the Norwalk Medical Group on East Avenue and lived for many years on Newtown Terrace and then at the Ledgebrook condominiums in West Norwalk. In the summer of 1966 she helped chaperone 22 students in Israel for the 92nd Street Y Israeli Teen Service Project.
Besides her husband, she leaves her children, Lucy Tannen of Marlboro, MA, Jeffrey Silverstein of Marlboro, MA, Timothy Silverstein and his wife, Sally, of Norwalk, CT and Melanie Rosenbaum and her husband, Bruce, of Sharon, MA; her grandchildren: Caroline Savitzky, Alex Savitzky, Kate Silverstein, Ben Silverstein, Lindsay and her husband Matthew Navarro, Michael Silverstein, and Joseph and Daniel Rosenbaum; and her beloved great-grandchildren, Devin Smith, Paige, Jordan, and Zoey Savitzky, and Jonathan Navarro. Florence was predeceased by her brothers Charles, Daniel, and Arthur Heath, and her sisters Marcelyn Clark and Marion Bordeaux Bliss.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Friday, July 1, 2016 in the Chapel of the Weinstein Mortuary, 640 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT with Rabbi Yitzchok Adler officiating. Interment will follow in the Wolkowysker Society Cemetery, 401 Tower Ave., Hartford, CT. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Doctors Without Borders, Hadassah Hospital, or Blue Ventures. Arrangements are entrusted to Weinstein Mortuary, Hartford, CT. For further information, direction, or to sign the guest book for Florence please visit online at www.weinsteinmortuary.com/funerals.cfm.
