John J. Silva, 87, of East Haven, passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 7, 2021, at his home with his family by his side. He was the beloved husband of 59 years to Marie Adamo Silva. John was born in New Haven on March 5, 1934 and was the son of the late Joseph and Carmela DeFrancesco Silva. He served his country faithfully for two years as a Med Corpsman in the US Army. John had worked as a welder for Metro North Railroad for forty years until his retirement. A true family man, John was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather who loved his family unconditionally. The simplest pleasures in life brought John great joy. He enjoyed collecting trains throughout his years and passed this love onto his great-grandsons. Many days he could be found sitting on the floor “setting up tracks” with them. Unfortunately for John, he was surrounded by mostly women between his 2 daughters, 3 granddaughters and 2 great granddaughters. This was a man of great patience and tolerance. For his daughters the word “no” was not in his vocabulary. A skating rink in the yard, a “she shed” for his girls before it was popular, personalized furniture. Nothing was off limits. John had so many talents building and making things. But he was best at fixing things – and boy there was always something to fix! When John became a PaPa his love only grew bigger. John became a “father” to his 3 granddaughters. It was like growing up another family. That is what kept John young at heart. He was not a man of many words. He was a man of action. Every one of those actions showed each one of us how much we were truly loved. Right to the very end he wanted to make sure we were happy and he would not leave us until we all told him on Oct 7, 2021 that we all knew he was tired and it was okay for him to leave us. Only then did he look at us around his bedside and go to sleep. We left the window open for we know his beautiful soul flew right up to Heaven and the angels were waiting holding the doors open to give him his wings, and boy did he earn them! Father of Marianne Silva-Corbett (Christopher), of East Haven, Barbara Onofrio (Edward), of East Haddam. Grandfather of Kristina Spetland (Daniel), Victoria Suraci (Raymond) and Alexandra Ildefonso (Nikko). Great-grandfather of Alexander and Zachariah Spetland, Kinslee, Theea and Graysonn Ildefonso.
Private funeral services have been entrusted to The Havens Family, North Haven Funeral Home, 36 Washington Avenue. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, PO Box 50, Memphis, TN 38101-9929.