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Jewish Press, Omaha, NE
August 14, 2009
Couple reaches marriage milestone by CAROL KATZMAN Editor of the Jewish Press It’s not everyday that a married couple has the luck to celebrate six-and-a-half decades together. Even 50 years is consider a simcha. But Omahans Stanley and Norma Silverman will celebrate their 65th anniversary this month. Norma Seldin married Stan Silverman on Aug. 25, 1944 at the Omaha Women’s Club. The ceremony was conducted by Rabbi Israel Moshowitz, assisted by Meyer Feldman. Following the wedding, the couple left for a wedding trip in Chicago, where Stan was to do his military service at the Great Lakes Naval Station. The couple has two children, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. A family celebration was held in Chicago last month at the Four Seasons Hotel.
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According to his son, Jeffrey, Stan Silverman was sitting in his office reviewing old family photos and came to a picture of his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. “He called me in mid-June just to mention that fact and indicate that his 65th anniversary was this coming August,” he said in an e-mail interview. “With just the slightest hint, I took the ball and ran with it!” An event was planned to celebrate the milestone in just 10 days. “On my last visit with my folks over Passover, my dad pulled out boxes of photos and old articles from the Press,” Jeffrey recalled. They found clippings about about Stan and Norma in the 1940s, when they were bit players in the Omaha Community Playhouse. “When I was little I do remember my mother playing opposite Henry Fonda in a production in the little park where Dodge Street swings over to Farnam, just east of Mutual of Omaha,” he added. A graduate of Central High School, Stanley Silverman earned a degree in chemical engineering from Iowa State in 1943. He served in the navy during World War II and then worked for Phillips Petroleum in Oklahoma before returning to Omaha to work for Quaker Oats. While doing some accounting work for his two brothers-in-law, Ted and Millard Seldin, for their fledgling company, he said, “I found myself spending more time at my part-time job (with Seldin) than my full time job!” So he left Quaker Oats and joined the family business. At the time they were building homes and apartments in Council Bluffs. By 1957, the Western Electric plant had opened in Omaha and the company began developing property south of Center and east and west of 120th St
in Omaha. According to the Seldin company website: “The Westwood Community was a master-planned development which began in 1957 when the company acquired the area which eventually included Westwood Heights, Montclair, Montclair South and Royalwood, and spanned nearly 1000 acres.” The company was recognized by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce with a Golden Spike Award in 1991 and was cited for its extensive developments in West Omaha totaling more than $100 million at the time the award was made. Silverman also obtained licenses in real estate and insurance. A “regular” at Beth El Synagogue’s daily minyan, he was recognized as one of the synagogue’s “minyanairres” for attending more than 50 services in the past year. Stan also served six years on the board of Jewish Social Services from 2003-09 (see related article below); his r elationship with the community’s aging dates back to when his parents lived at the Dr. Philip Sher Home. In addition to their son Jeffrey, a long time member of both the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, the Norma Seldin married Stan Silverman on S i l v e r m a n s Aug. 25, 1944. have a daughter living in Omaha: Denise Silverman, now retired from the Seldin Company. Jeffrey and his wife, Mary Kay, divide their time between Chicago and Miami Beach. The Silverman family has made generous contributions locally and nationally, including: a major gift to the “New Beginnings” remodeling and expansion of the RBJH, two career development fellowships at MIT, The Silverman Chair of Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (currently held by Victor Ambros a potential Nobel Prize winner), the Northwestern Hospital Research project, Silverman Family Evergreen Energy Fund at MIT, and the Silverman Family Skyline Terrace Room at MIT’s Media Lab. The Silvermans’ three grandchildren include: Dr. Lance Michael Silverman, an orthopaedic surgeon practicing in Minneapolis; Howard Scott Silverman of Miami Beach and Chicago, who works with his father, Jeffrey in their investment business, Agman Partners, and Monica Stoney, a junior at the University of Michigan. Dr. Silverman is married to Anne; they have three children: Jacob 6, Andrew 3, Abigail, 11-weeks-old; Scott and his wife, Yael, have a two-year-old daughter, Gabrielle -- giving Stan and Norma four great-grandchildren.
Silverman family gift Continued from page 1 Stan Silverman has a long history with the Home. “My parents lived at the Dr. Sher Home before the Blumkin Home opened in 1982,” he said. “Two of my aunts, Sophie Kaplan and Eva Lebowitz -- my mother’s sister -- also were residents of the Blumkin Home. And the contemporary connections are a bit ironic.” Silverman gave this example. “First of all, when the family landed on Ellis Island, the customs officials assigned some of the group the name Lebowitz and the rest of the group got the name Lebowich.” He continued to explain that, “Years and years later, my mother’s roommate was Bertha Lashinsky. As it turns out, Bertha’s daughter, Grace, is married to Ben Lebowich who is now a resident at the Blumkin Home. Ben’s uncle, Sam Lebowitz, was married to my Aunt Eva, so even though Ben and I aren’t blood relatives -we’re still mishpacha.” He added, “It seems our family’s connection to the Home is continuing over the generations.” Many of Silverman’s friends have either been or are now residents of the Home, and he visits the facility often. Bert Benson, RBJH Director of Social Services said, “I love it when Stan comes here. He’s been a friend to the Home for a very long time, even when he had no family living here. As a Board member he took part in
decisions that made for the Home’s well-being. Stan is a terrific, terrific guy.” Joanie Bernstein, a past president of the RBJH Board, added, “Stan is a quiet, gentle soul with a big heart who really cares about people. He recently stepped down from the Board after serving for six years. It always impressed me that after our meetings Stan would go visit residents and even hang around at sing-alongs to make sure everyone was having a good time.” She added, “Stan also observed the residents participating in activities in the old auditorium and saw how much pleasure they got from what was going on there, so it strikes me that the Silverman family gift is particularly appropriate.” Silverman was praised by current Blumkin Home Board President Jim Farber as a diligent, attentive Board member. “Through his generosity, Stan has shown his confidence in the staff and his appreciation for the way the Home is being managed. He and his family have chosen to be an important part of its future. We’re very grateful that the Silvermans stepped up and entrusted us with this gift.” The Blumkin Home New Beginning construction schedule calls for the Silverman Family Auditorium to be completed and in use by the end of the calendar year.