OBITUARY: Donald Neal Silver

September 17, 1946—April 21, 2025

Donald Neal Silver was born in Vincennes, IN to Howard and Allene Silver on September 17, 1946. He passed away on Monday, April 21 in the San Luis Valley Hospital in Alamosa.

The Howard Silver family (including brother Jim, born in 1943) moved to Craig in 1948. They left Lawrenceville, IL when Howard's father, Henry, because of his failing health, called for both of his sons to join him in his business, Silver Agricultural Implements. Howard had been employed as an electrical engineer with Texas Oil Co. before WWII (in Craig) and then after his discharge, in Illinois. Henry's younger son, Dorman, left his job with a local tanker trucking company. Henry died in 1951, and the Silver brothers then began a partnership which lasted thirty years (until Howard's passing in 1981). Howard ran the store and Dorman took up wheat farming, and briefly, raising cattle (with his son, David). Don's sister, Jane, was born in 1952.

The Silver families were tightly knit as they raised their children. Dorman and Mary also had three: David, Nancy, and Jean. George and Lucille Gooch and daughter Linda made it a three- family unit, all engaged in agriculture and active in the community (Lucille being the younger sister of the Silver brothers).

Don graduated from MCHS in 1964. He next attended New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM and then a community college in Washington, DC while he was there in an FBI internship program. This training-oriented Don toward law enforcement. He was employed by the Craig Police Department in the late '60's and early '70's (he also drove a school bus). He went on to work for the Maricopa Co., AZ Sheriff Department.

Don's love for trucks would set the course for most of his working years. In and around Denver, he delivered food products, liquor, furniture, and concrete. Finally, his favorite job was working for Halliburton in oil field service, based out of Brighton.

While working in the Denver area Don met his wife, Marilyn. They were married on Nov. 25, 1977. Their children are Jessica and Jared Joseph (JJ). Jessica Coogan (and Tom's) children are Hailey and twins Jake and John. JJ (and Kelli's) daughter is Kynnedi. In addition to the four grandchildren, Don and Marilyn became great-grandparents last year to Harper, daughter of

Hailey (and Austin).

Health concerns made Don a warrior for the latter years of his life. He became a cancer survivor after being diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in late 2000. Chemotherapy continued into 2001. A few years later, he needed his first pacemaker in 2005. When Don was diagnosed with Guillian-Barre Syndrome (a neuro-muscular disease) in the summer of 2009, that

explained why he had increasing difficulty stepping up into his big Halliburton truck. With twenty-five years in this company, Don's truck driving days were over.

Don and Marilyn lived and raised their family in the Erie area, north of Denver. Once they became empty-nesters, they had dreamed of living near Antonito in the San Luis Valley, which became a reality in October, 2018 when they purchased a house on the bank of the Conejos River.

Don's health, however, continued to further decline. From Jan. 1, 2023 to the end, Don lived forty miles north in an assisted living facility, The Bridge at Alamosa. For those years he was a generally cheerful encourager of others, expressing gratitude to the caring staff, and he built friendships there. He was a man with a sound mind, a keen sense of humor, and a good heart-- but a worn-out body. He's missed there at The Bridge, but most by his immediate family—his wife, Marilyn, his kids Jessica and JJ, and their families, and by those who had loved him the longest—his brother Jim (and JoAnn) and his sister Jane Richmond (and Claud), as well as by his cousins, David, Jean, and Linda.

But for Don, as the Scriptures tells us all, "to depart and be with Christ is better by far." Don was preceded in death by his first wife, Gayle (Kline-Silver) and their infant son, Donald Scott, both of whom died in childbirth; by his parents, Howard and Allene; by his aunts and uncles-- Dorman and Mary, and George and Lucille; and by his cousin Nancy (Silver-Meats).

Rogers Family Mortuary is in the care of the arrangements. To leave online condolences, tributes, and words of comfort for Donald's family, please visit www.RogersFunerals.com