Judith M. Silva Obituary
Judith M. (Whynot) Silva, a Gloucester resident, passed away peacefully on April 11, 2025, at her home surrounded by her family. She was 88. Judy was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
Judy was born on November 2, 1936, in Gloucester, MA, the daughter of Ernest R. and Evelyn M. (Patrican) Whynot. Judy attended Gloucester High School graduating with the Class of 1954. While a student there she was co-head cheerleader and a member of the girl drill team. It was here that she met her future husband, Warren on a blind date for the Sergeant's Party, which was GHS's senior prom. Following graduation from high school she enrolled in the Salem Hospital School of Nursing and graduated as a Registered Nurse with 40 other students in the Class of 1957. Immediately after her graduation she went to work as a RN at Addison Gilbert Hospital while awaiting Warren's graduation from the Citadel in Charleston, SC in June of 1958. They were married on August 1, 1959 at St. Anns Church in Gloucester. At this point her husband had been commissioned as a 2nd Lt in the United States Army and was on active duty.
After the wedding she entered 20 plus years as an "Army Wife". During this period she set up and operated their home 21 times in places all over the southern and western parts of the United States and Hawaii to include Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Alabama and Texas. In some of these states she established homes more than once. During this period she gave birth to 5 healthy children, 2 were born in Hawaii, 1 in Alabama, 1 in Texas and the last one in Gloucester, while her husband was serving the first of his three tours of duty in Vietnam as an Army helicopter pilot.
Following retirement from the Army the family returned to their final home in Gloucester, where she returned to nursing at Addison Gilbert Hospital, where her nursing career had started upon graduation from nurse's training. After 12 years as a ward nurse at AGH, Judy went to Beverly Hospital as a member of the IV therapy team and stayed there for 14 years before retiring from the medical profession.
As soon as her youngest child entered school, Judy took up golf and loved every minute of it. She was a member of the Bass Rocks Golf Club for 46 years before giving up her membership in 2024 while serving for many years on the club's greens committee. Her other passion was playing bridge every week with her 8-member bridge group as well as playing duplicate bridge during the summer months. Her other talents were making the children's clothes during their younger years and baking and decorating wedding cakes as a "side hustle" to provide extra money during the years that the children were in college, for one year they had three enrolled at the same time. She was always a busy person that lived a very full life.
Judy is survived by her husband, Warren; oldest son, Michael and his wife Sigrid of Danvers; two daughters, Mary Lynne and Kathleen of Gloucester and her second son, Stephen who resides in Reston, VA; five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Judy was predeceased by her parents, Ernest and Evelyn Whynot; daughter, Laurel Woodbury and sister, Jane Johnson.
The family would like to than the Care Dimensions Hospice especially Maggie (nurse) and Gladys (aide) and the firemen of the Bay View Station and Rescue Squad for the great care and assistance they provided during the past few weeks.
A visitation will be held in the Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington Street, Gloucester Friday, April 18, 2025, from 10 to 11 a.m. followed by a service at 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. Burial will be held in Calvary Cemetery, Gloucester, MA.
In lieu of flowers, Judy's favorite charity was St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959 or stjude.org.
