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Community mourns Jerry Silverman

Fireworks champion, former selectman died Monday

By Judy Wakefield and Bethany Bray
Staff Writers
Published: July 30, 2009

The door at 56 Burnham Road swung open repeatedly on Tuesday as Myrna Silverman greeted numerous visitors who had come to offer condolences. Paying their respects were friends, neighbors and past and present town officials.

Her husband, Jerry Silverman, 76, a father and grandfather, educator, town official, tireless volunteer and Andover's "Mr. Fourth of July" died Monday, July 27, after a long battle with cancer.

"It's like a revolving door here," she said Tuesday. "But it's OK. Jerry would have loved it."

The last two weeks were difficult as the Silvermans - married 53 years - learned Jerry Silverman could stop taking his medication for lymphoma and leukemia. His 12-year battle with the diseases was ending. Myrna Silverman said hospice workers were called. Her husband was taken to the hospital on Sunday and died the following day, Monday, July 27.

"He had no regrets," she said. "He only wished he saw a youth center get built...that's all."

In Andover, the name Jerry Silverman goes hand-in-hand with the Fourth of July.

Over the past two decades, Silverman raised thousands of dollars to help defray the cost of the town's fireworks display, often carrying around a big plastic jar for donations at town events. This year, he was credited with rescuing the annual July 4 pancake breakfast and Horribles Parade, covering costs after funding was cut from the town budget.

But Silverman's involvement stretched across the community, from his involvement in charitable causes to his elected position as representative to the Greater Lawrence Technical School.

"He was always wanting to get things done in a very low key way. He wasn't a flashy guy. That wasn't his style. He was a very, very productive guy," said Rabbi Robert Goldstein of Temple Emanuel in Andover. "His involvement with the fireworks was the visible and dramatic tip of the iceberg, but there was so much more."

That's why Youth Services Director Bill Fahey said he was so touched that Silverman asked for all expressions of sympathy to be donated to the Andover Youth Center Building Fund.

"Jerry was a great man, a mentor and became a trusted friend," said Fahey. "His marriage is unbelievable. He was always that guy who was not afraid to speak out."

Friend Larry Larsen of Andover was not surprised to hear that Jerry Silverman was thinking about the proposed youth center in his last days. Silverman and Larsen founded the Andover Youth Foundation in 1999 after their selectmen terms ended. During their time in office an effort to build a youth center failed by a few dozen votes at Town Meeting.

"It was a tough evening for him," said Larsen, but Silverman stayed active with the issue.

"He took me to Harwichport where the youth center is on one side and the senior center is on the other side," Larsen said. "He had a bigger vision of community."

The two men played golf on that trip, and Larsen said Silverman sometimes ran into former students and local kids on the golf course. He loved it when he did. A former teacher, he worked his way up to principal at Georgetown High School, retiring in the mid 1990s.

After retiring, in 1995 he become assistant director of the Massachusetts Secondary Schools Administration Association in Franklin.

Peg Campbell, who years ago worked with Silverman on Fourth of July activities and now is head of the Andover Youth Foundation, said a friend who was a teacher under Silverman always raved about working for him.

"He's such a rare person because he gave so much of himself with the greater good in mind. It was never about his kid, his (friend)," said Peg Campbell. "He gave so much of himself, for so many years - to the end."

"Jerry was one of the most positive, generous, and energetic people I have ever known," said School Committee Chairwoman Debra Rahmin Silberstein. "He brought people together. He cared. He inspired. He was my friend and I will miss him. My life and our community are better because of him."

His love for Andover and fostering community, as well as knowing it may be his last, made this year's Fourth of July a special weekend for Silverman.

That morning Silverman set up a chair facing the pancake griddle and stayed the entire breakfast, watching residents and politicians mingle.

"He just sat there and watched, and talked to people as they went by. He had a constant smile on his face," said Selectmen Chairman Alex Vispoli. "He was a very, very special man that has had such a long lasting impact to the community."

"He's not somebody you can replace."

This week, local officials have reflected on the mark Silverman left on Andover.

"I learned how to make pancakes 'the right way' from Jerry," said Selectman Mary Lyman of her first public pancake flipping in 2002. "Of course the real message was never about the pancakes, but rather that we all got out there and created a community feeling that makes Andover a special place and a place that people are proud to call their home."

On July 6, Silverman visited a selectmen meeting, reporting that 4,000 pancakes were served on July 4. Selectmen gave him a standing ovation, and voted to name the town's annual 4th of July show the "Jerry Silverman fireworks."

Silverman responded by saying, "I say this is what community is all about. It made my heart feel terrific. Community is not just bricks, stones and schools. It's the people living here."

"I'll remember Jerry as a man who was always bringing people together. He was a people person," said Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski, who will be one of two speakers at a service for Silverman at Temple Emanuel today, Thursday, July 30 at 1 p.m. "He was a joiner in many respects - as a carpenter joined two pieces of wood together, Jerry would join people together, bring people together to address a community need. He will be missed, because of that talent."

Selectman Ted Teichert, a friend and neighbor, said Silverman's goal was to make it to July 4.

"The last six months had been tough for him, and he had set a goal (of making it to July 4). He always made his goals," said Teichert. "It's a sad day, but looking back at everything he did, it puts a smile on your face.

"July 4th was his thing, that's what he was all about," said Teichert. "He loved this town, loved being part of the community and being involved. A lot of people come and go and that's great, but he kept on giving until the end."

Silverman was given the Virginia Cole award at Town Meeting in May, in recognition of his decades of service to Andover. He served six terms as an Andover selectman, from 1981 to 1998. He helped form the Andover Federal Credit Union in the 1960s and was involved with many groups and causes, from the Service Club in Andover to Camp Bauercrest in Amesbury, a camp for Jewish boys.

Teichert said Silverman inspired him to run for public office. Vispoli said Silverman was one of the first people he met with after deciding to run for selectman.

"I look towards him and his life, and always looked up to him," said Teichert.

As he began to campaign in 2004, Vispoli said he sat down with Silverman, chatting for hours about "what makes a good selectman."

"I have bounced ideas by him over the years, he was a great sounding board," said Vispoli. "What I remember is his great unselfishness, and always trying to do the right thing. Literally at the end, the way he jumped in with the Fourth of July (pancake breakfast) to do the right thing, really underscores how he was able to have a positive impact right up to the end of his life. I can't think of anyone else that has contributed like that."

The selectmen and town manager agreed that next year's Jerry Silverman Fireworks display will be as big and as grand as ever, continuing Silverman's legacy.

"Nothing will change, and Jerry knows that," said Teichert.

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