William "Jerry" Silva

After spending a lovely week with his immediate family, William Jerry Silva passed away peacefully on the afternoon of September 11, 2020 at the age of 86, after a courageous battle with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

He was our loving father, grandfather and great-grandfather known as Papa. Dad was born on May 20, 1934 in Shelton, Washington. He was the youngest son of Sesario and Cecilia Silva. Shortly after high school Dad moved to Colorado and ultimately to Salt Lake City. On October 25, 1958 he married Julie B. Birrueta, the love of his life, in Salt Lake City. We are at peace knowing that he is now reunited with his sweetheart in heaven and that they are playing cards together.

In his youth, Dad was a rancher and smoke jumper. Dad was a hard worker and taught himself how to repair cars, even though he went to vocational school to be a carpenter. He owned his own body shop called J&J. He later retired after managing Hinckley’s Body Shop. Even after retirement, Dad continued being active by working for the Granite School District as a custodian. He finally retired after working with the South Salt Lake Police Department as a crossing guard for the community. Dad truly loved his last job - keeping children and the community safe - but had to retire due to his health and not being able to give 100%.

In his youth Dad was an outdoorsman and took pride in being a skilled hunter. For a time, Dad was a race car driver at the fairgrounds. He was an avid bowler, and bowled many perfect 300 games. Even more than bowling a perfect game, he took pride in sharing his knowledge and love of the game with the younger generation of bowlers. He was president of the Granite Ute Youth Football League. He enjoyed all forms of fishing. He loved taking trips to gamble in Wendover, Reno and Las Vegas. Dad was never afraid to learn new skills. He became social media savvy at the age of 83 and many times, called out his loved ones on Marco Polo. His greatest joy was playing card games with his children, grandchildren and friends.

Dad is survived by his children, Alex (Cris) Silva, Paul (Dani) Silva, Susana-Silva (Patrick) Chaffos and Jerry (Cristina) Silva Jr. His children, grand-children and great-grandchildren will miss him dearly. Dad is preceded in death by his wife Julie B. Silva, his brother Ernie Silva, and his parents Sesario & Mildred Silva, Arnold & Cecilia Livingston.

Special thanks to the Elevation Hospice aids and nurses who assisted Dad: especially Megan, Miriam and Danielle.

Short Graveside services will be held on Friday, September 18, 2020 at 12:00 pm at Mountain View Memorial, locate at 3115 E. 7800 S, Salt Lake City. Please practice social distancing, face masks are requested. Note: Graveside seating is limited bring your own seating if need. View full obituary is on memorialutah.com Please write your condolence there.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.