A Life: Joseph S. Silver, 1944-2017; ‘He was able to laugh at himself; he was so unpretentious’

When one of Joe Silver’s neighbors gave him a secondhand bathrobe as a gag gift, he did what any true friend might do. He put the ugly thing on, belted it at the waist, had his wife of 37 years dress in her pajamas and, together with their son, marched over to that neighbor’s house.


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A Life: Joseph S. Silver, 1944-2017; ‘He Was Able to Laugh at Himself; He Was So Unpretentious’ With help from his grandchildren MJ and Ella Silver, Joe Silver blows out candles on his birthday cake at his home in Hartland, Vt., in 2011 (Family photograph) Joe Silver, of Hartland, Vt., in an undated photograph. When Silver gradated from high school in Newton, Mass., he traveled through college before earning an undergraduate degree from Boston University and a master’s degree from Springfield College. (Family photograph) Career educator Joe Silver at the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center's (HACTC) auto shop in an undated photograph. Silver served as the HACTC director, vice principal of Lebanon High School, principal of Windsor High School and the superintendent of schools in the Springfield (Vt.) School District. (Valley News photograph) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Purchase a reprint » Previous Next Previous Next By Jordan Cuddemi Valley News Staff Writer Monday, November 20, 2017 Print LEBANON NH WINDSOR VT HARTLAND VT SPRINGFIELD VT JORDAN CUDDEMI Hartland — When one of Joe Silver’s neighbors gave him a secondhand bathrobe as a gag gift, he did what any true friend might do. He put the ugly thing on, belted it at the waist, had his wife of 37 years dress in her pajamas and, together with their son, marched over to that neighbor’s house. “Joe just made you laugh,” neighbor Susan Boutwell said as she recalled the night in the late 1980s when Silver put on that “horrendous” bathrobe. “He was able to laugh at himself; he was so unpretentious in that way.” Silver, a Massachusetts native who died on Aug. 26 at age 73, left his mark on several Upper Valley school districts in his 40-year career as an administrator. Most notably, he served as the director of the Hartford Career and Technology Center, vice principal of Lebanon High School, principal of Windsor High School and the superintendent of the Springfield (Vt.) School District. He apparently never regretted his career choice. Even after he ostensibly retired, he helped school districts search for new superintendents and served others in an interim capacity. His wife, Emily Silver, said her husband enjoyed new challenges, so when he felt his work was complete in one school district, he would move on to another. “He had the seven-year itch,” she said with a laugh. “He was in most places for about seven years. He never left some place because he was unhappy. Everywhere he went he had rich, wonderful relationships with people.” Preparing for the Future Though Silver bounced around between school districts, one thing remained a constant: His priority was serving the students. Silver often focused on improving curriculum and the way the teachers delivered education. “He was very concerned with educating kids at that time for the 21st century, for the future demands of education,” said Anne Evensen, who worked as a guidance counselor in Windsor when Silver was principal in the early 1990s. A hallmark of the 21st century has been the rapid shift in technology, something Silver very much embraced at a time when other educators did not. He had an exceptional ability to see where “things were going,” Evensen said. Silver brought a technology-integration specialist into the school, and Windsor ended up having a computer network that was “second to none,” Evensen said. “He was absolutely committed to making sure the kids had the ability to become full citizens in the digital world,” she said. He also doled out discipline as justly as he could. Addressing student misconduct is part of many principals’ job, and Silver developed a unique way of handling it. Rather than concerning himself exclusively with punishment, Silver addressed the root cause of the behavior. He understood that kids were kids and that they made mistakes, his wife said. “He always saw the better in a person,” Emily Silver said. Silver also demonstrated a knack for figuring out how to steer people toward a common goal. While working alongside Steven Hier, the business manager for the Springfield School District from 1996-2003, he dedicated himself to repairing a district that had begun to drift apart. Through several hires, including a curriculum director and an information technology team, he restored a sense of unity among the district’s elementary schools, middle school and high school, Hier said. “He knew how to communicate with folks,” Hier said. “He knew how to work with people and bring them to a consensus.” After he retired from Springfield and took on the role of assisting Vermont school boards in hiring new superintendents, Silver would sit down with a large group of people — as many as 15, and from different walks of life — and help guide the conversation toward a common purpose. His ability to listen, process information and ask thought-provoking questions led to his high success rate, said Bob Stevens, another retired administrator who worked alongside with Silver. “Part of Joe’s strength is he can talk with anybody on any topic and either be in agreement or disagreement but everyone comes away feeling good about the conversation,” Stevens said. “That is tough to do.” “He was very bright — but you wouldn’t know it. He didn’t flaunt it. He showed it to you through what he did,” he said. “He had a wry smile and a sense of humor that told you something without telling you something.” Family and Forever Friends Silver’s devotion to his work came at a price: He worked from sunup to sundown. His family, which included Emily and his four children, however, never suffered as a result. In Stevens’ words: “Joe was a huge family man.” The pair often had the opportunity for long conversations as they traveled around the state. “When we were riding together, I had to know everything about his family from top to bottom — because he was going to share it whether I wanted to know it or not,” Stevens said with a laugh. “He loved his wife and kids.” He had the fortune to further lavish his attention on his nine grandchildren. Whether it was laying on the floor with them or teaching them to make a whistle out of a piece of grass or an acorn, Silver found joy. “He really could get on a kid’s level,” Emily Silver said. Spending time with the people the Silvers cared about was a priority. After moving to Hartland in 1978, the Silvers hosted numerous dinner parties. “Food was important. You lingered over food,” said Boutwell, their neighbor. “You didn’t just eat a quick meal because the conversation was so good.” Boutwell, a former Valley News staff writer, and her late husband Tony Furnari, moved next door to the Silvers in 1985. The Silvers taught them how to be neighbors, she said. “I grew up in neighborhoods where you wave to people and said hi,” Boutwell said. “This was a whole new level of being a neighbor. “When you lived next door to Joe and Em, you could go into their refrigerator at any time of the day and get the hot sauce; it didn’t matter if they were there or not.” Longtime friend and fellow Hartland resident Rob Foote called the Silvers a “social hub for the community.” Foote, who became friends with Silver in the 1970s, also had the pleasure of attending dinner parties. Joe Silver was fond of Eastern European Jewish delicacies and was “an expert” at recreating them, said Foote, a retired Upper Valley physician. One of his specialties was pickles. He also was a bit of a “mushroom connoisseur” and grew his own. Silver also enjoyed gardening, golfing and vintage motorcycles. He spent time after college riding around Europe on an antique BMW motorcycle, which he brought back to the United States. That eventually sold, but Silver got the itch again 10 years ago when Foote acquired an antique motorcycle. “I think that set Joe’s imagination going. Within about a month, he had found an old BMW 527, almost identical to the 1960s model,” Foote said. The pair spent the next several years riding the back roads of Vermont. Foote thought of several words to describe Silver — empathetic, genuine, witty — but none quite sufficed. “Generalities ... they never quite capture a person the way being in a person’s presence does,” Foote said. “Hearing his tone of voice and watching the light in his eyes and seeing him smile through his motorcycle helmet. Those particular details are what I remember.”