Earl E. Silva - January 29, 2002
Earl Edward Silva, a resident of Ocean Shores for 11 years, died of a long-term respiratory problem Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002, in Grays Harbor Community Hospital at Aberdeen. He was 74.
Mr. Silva was born Feb. 27, 1927, at Randle to Myrtle (Rude) and George Silva. He attended schools in Centralia and Chehalis and graduated from Aberdeen's Weatherwax High School in 1945.
He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Seattle University in 1955.
On March 27, 1948, he married Laila Walli in a Finnish Lutheran church at Aberdeen. She survives him at their home.
A veteran of World War II and the Korean War, Mr. Silva had been a master sergeant in the Army.
For 36 years, he and his family lived in Centralia, where he taught school and was a principal at Bucoda, Logan and Galvin elementary schools. He had also taught seventh grade math at Centralia Junior High School and retired in the early 1970s.
Mr. Silva and a partner, Bud Hedge, formed the 7-11 Development Corporation, a business that brought city water to the Cooks Hill area of Centralia.
Before he became ill, he and his wife explored many of the country's back roads in their motor home. He also enjoyed reading, especially about the Civil War.
He liked puttering with a Model T truck and had learned wood carving and computer basics. Through genealogical research, he found a half brother.
In addition to his wife, survivors include four daughters, Susan White of Boise, Idaho, Sally Coan of Albuquerque, N.M., Cynthia Taylor of Centralia and Celia Hansen of Spokane; a brother, Bill Cox of Chugiak, Alaska; seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
Two sisters, Edith Landi and Inez McKinley; two brothers, Russell and Delbert Silva, and a stepbrother, Dick Bowen, died before him.
The family is planning a private celebration of his life at a later time.
Arrangements are by the Fern Hill Funeral Home of Aberdeen.
Memorial donations are suggested to the Ocean Shores Library Building Fund, P.O. Box 669, Ocean Shores, 98569; the Finnish American Historical Society of the West, P.O. Box 5522, Portland, Ore., 97228; or the Lewis County Museum, 599 N.W. Front Way, Chehalis, 98532.
All rights reserved. Copyright 2002 The Daily World.
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