Tribute Wall
Wednesday
25
October
Funeral Service
11:00 am
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Congregation Brit Shalom
620 E Hamilton Ave
State College, Pennsylvania, United States
Final Resting Place
Centre County Memorial Park
1032 Benner Pike
State College, Pennsylvania, United States
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Susan Pearson posted a condolence
Monday, October 28, 2024
It is unclear as to how Willa popped into my mind just now. We were Gramercy neighbors...her brother Ethan and I were childhood playmates, and her mother Sharon was very dear to me. I moved many states away, and reconnected with Sharon and Ethan decades later....I remember times at the Silverman home with Ethan after school and Willa coming in later, so poised and elegant to my five and six year-old perception. So eager to get to her studies. She was a role model to me in a very subtle yet distinct way. The loss of Willa is deeply sad....yet I am happy that she enjoyed such success, and a family of her own. My heartfelt sympathies to her entire family as this first year ends. The loss of a sister is so hard...having lost my sister over thirty years ago, I so often wish...still...that I could tell her something just seen, talk about life things, share a laugh. It is never easy, at any age, to have that sibling loss...Ethan, I hope you are doing well. To lose a child is far more difficult. Sharon, you have been a great light to me...as your daughter Willa was to many...and my wish for you is that all you have given to your children, and to the children of others, brings you all that is good. With love, Susan Pearson
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Monique Yaari posted a condolence
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Sharing memories…
As things were getting harder and harder for her during this most difficult of journeys, and as people were wondering where she found so much strength to fight the beast, Willa kept repeating: “I just don’t want to leave the party” ...
A small piece of history:
She delayed checking on some vague symptoms four and a half years ago, because she had organized a mini symposium at Penn State, and prior to that she had led a group of students to Paris, to study the Holocaust. Being less dedicated to her work would not have changed anything on the progression of her cancer (it was already late by then for this insidious quiet killer), but the delay is testimony to her values.
And now:
The other night I was listening on a French radio station to a wonderful program on Louise Weiss (journalist, feminist, political figure). I would have loved to discuss it with her. But she was no longer there for this, nor for any other dialogues …
My thoughts go to Sharon, and Ben, and Ethan, and to all those who were close to her and loved her.
Monique
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erica svec posted a condolence
Friday, October 27, 2023
My name is Erica Svec, I am a PSU alum and have lived in NYC for the past 25 years. I am sharing a rather amazing coincidence that happened this week involving Willa at the very center of it. I was having dinner with a recent, but very dear friend Ellen Fine. We were celebrating our birthdays together. I am a hospice volunteer. Ellen and I have become friends over the course of this past year after I was assigned to support her as her partner went through hospice care. Ellen is also a brilliant French Literature scholar. She received her PHD from NYU, taught for many years at Kingsboro College and has published and lectured internationally, with a focus on Holocaust Studies. She was special adviser to Elie Wiesel when he was named chairman of U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
When Ellen and I spend time together we love to talk about coincidences. I always encourage her that she write a book only focusing on the amazing happenstances that have happened to her over the course of her 84 years. (This being one of them).
During our dinner, Ellen recalled that I went to Penn State University. Knowing it was a long shot, she asked me if I might have known a woman named Willa Silverman whom she had crossed paths with on several occasions during various lecturing circuits many years ago. She recalled Willa being a brilliant young NYU doctoral student, who took a job at PSU soon after her studies were complete.
My first response was that it had been 30 years since I was at Penn State, the school is enormous and the chances that we overlapped on any level was very slim. I was an art student, so we weren't in the same academic departments. I thought for a few minutes.. and then recalled a young couple who used to come into the the coffee shop where I worked. I remembered the woman's name was Willa. She was pregnant and radiant and I recall thinking she was so urban, elegant and chic..... and so kind. I had become friendly with her and her husband Michael while serving coffee to them in the mornings and chatting. It was with great surprise and honor, when they delivered their son, they asked me if I'd be willing to be their first babysitter....
At this point during dinner, Ellen and I got our phones out... There was no way that this could be the same Willa! When her photo came up... it was Willa. The Willa who had graced our lives under such wildly different circumstances 30 years ago! When we got through celebrating this wild connection, we read further..... I realized one of the images was linked to this obituary. We had missed her by two days to share our mutual admiration for her. We are so very sad about her passing. We are also so incredibly glad to know how brilliantly and beautifully she connected her work to her life in such profoundly impactful ways. I am taking the liberty to send love from Ellen and I to those who are mourning her loss. She had touched our hearts too.
To Benjamin, I remember you so clearly as a newborn. Arriving at your house- trying to project confidence as a 20 year old, to make sure that your beautiful, nervous new parents knew that you would be just fine left in my care for a few hours, while they ventured out for the first time together without you. And you were... just fine. Sending love, Erica
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David Miranda posted a condolence
Thursday, October 26, 2023
Others already have shared eloquent and accurate memories of Willa. One memory that sticks in my mind is a drive we took from her appointments at Hopkins back to State College during which she shared openly about her prognosis and then delighted in sharing her favorite bakeries along the route. She chafed when we told her she was inspiring, but the way she fought her cancer and the way lived her life to the fullest even while in hospice were remarkable. I am lucky for our friendship. My heart goes out to Ben, Ethan, Sharon and Willa’s larger family. May we all cherish her memory.
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Carolroyer posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
My mother and I used to clean Willa and Michael's home we knew them before they were even married when they got married when they first bought their first home even when they announced that they were going to have a baby and when Benjamin was brought into the world we continue cleaning their home she was such a sweet wonderful lady she will be greatly missed Carol Maggie Royer
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Christine Clark-Evans & Clifford M. Evans posted a condolence
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Willa Z. Silverman has been a faithful friend, mother, scholar, professor, department head, citizen of the world, and my office mate upon our arrival over thirty years ago at Penn State University in what was the Department of French, then became Department of French & Francophone Studies, over a decisive arc of many changes in our world, a world in which she was a leader and gracious human being. She will be profoundly missed. Our heartfelt condolences are sent to Willa's dear family and many friends and students at this time of love, loss, and remembrance.
Veuillez accepter s'il vous plaît tous nos sentiments de condoléances pour la famille et tous les proches en ce triste moment.
Christine Clark-Evans and Clifford M. Evans
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Élisabeth Raphaël lit a candle
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
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Ton amitié, ta joie de vivre, ta gourmandise ma chère Willa vont me manquer.
Que ton âme s’élève et repose en paix ma chérie.
Que ton souvenir soit une bénédiction pour tous ceux qui t’ont aimée.
Que tes proches, je pense tout particulièrement à Ben, puissent trouver la consolation.
Que ton combat pour la vie soit un exemple pour nous tous.
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Erin Brown posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
I had the opportunity to take Dr. Silverman's class "France and the Holocaust" during my second year at Penn State. I still remember her powerful lectures and superior student engagement. She brought in many guest speakers, artifacts, and selected a series of remarkable films. Her class inspired me to pursue a Holocaust Studies certificate and to devote part of my academic and professional career to the study of genocide. I am forever grateful to have had her as a guide along my journey. She left a big impression on me during my time at Penn State. I am so sorry for your loss. May her memory be a blessing.
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Erica Farber posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
As far as my 11-year-old self was concerned, 13-year-old Willa was the smartest, coolest, most sophisticated girl in Gramercy Park. So, when I was lucky enough to inherit her hot-pink hip-hugging flowered bell bottoms, I was thrilled. While the other Gramercy Park kids and I were climbing the park fence, roller skating, having snowball fights, and playing other assorted games, Willa was somewhere else doing far cooler and more sophisticated things, often involving studying, as she was academically driven in a way I had never seen in a near-peer before. One of the reasons, if not the main reason, I decided to go to Nightingale was because Willa went there, somehow managing to make the dorky uniform kilt look chic and sophisticated, pairing it with high-heels she could actually walk in, while I marched around in my knockoff Wallabees, wondering how that was even possible. She was also very kind to me, giving me insider tips about the school to help me make the transition, including how to manage Mac’s extremely hearty handshake. Years later when I was at loose ends in my early 20s, I remember hanging out with Ethan in the Gramercy Park kitchen, watching her make sesame noodles, while busily pursuing some lofty academic goal, and admiring her drive and ambition, and the perseverance and dedication with which she pursued her dreams, while also still managing to retain her 1970s cool girl sophistication, chic, and confidence.
I am so very sorry for your loss.
May her memory be for a blessing
Xox
Erica
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Eugene Trivell posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Dear Sharon & Ethan,
Our family's deepest condolences to you and your family in your profound loss of Willa. We share in your beautiful memories growing up within our building on the park...our family and brothers and sisters sharing this special place in that special time. Willa's joy of life always so evident, somehow we all seemed convinced Willa was on her way to accomplish the special life she would lead. Our memory of Willa illuminating holiday gatherings; her caring hellos and radiant smile. Willa guided a way for many of us to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. Willa's focus on bettering us all carrying us forward. My family, and I, will forever miss her.
Eugene, with fellow Trivell family
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Jeanne M. Kabulis posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Thirty years ago, I took Willa's Belle Époque course at PSU. The course was so beautifully curated; it ignited my passion for nineteenth-century French studies and inspired much of my French teaching career. Even in our most recent communications on FB, she encouraged me to grow and write. I will miss her sense of humor and warmth. Mes sincères condoléances à ses proches. --Jeanne Kabulis
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Kristina (Mutzeck) Helmerich posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Dr. Silverman made French history come alive in her classroom, and she inspired me in my education and career in ways that I cannot express with words. I am saddened to think of our world without her, and so grateful to have known and worked with her. My deepest condolences to those closest to her.
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Birenbaum Jean lit a candle
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
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Très triste de sa disparition. Mes plus sincères condoléances à la famille et aux proches de Willa pour laquelle j’ai la plus grande admiration pour l’immense qualité de son travail et pour la merveilleuse personnalité.
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Fleur Prade lit a candle
Monday, October 23, 2023
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My deepest condolences to professor Silverman’s family and friends
I will always remember her history of the book course that I took 15 years ago as well as her great love for Paris.
May she rest in peace.
Sincerely Fleur Prade (former graduate student)
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Julie Fette posted a condolence
Monday, October 23, 2023
I admired Willa as an NYU French studies graduate just a few years older than me. She hired me to do part-time research on Gyp in the late 1990s in Paris. She was encouraging and interested in my own research and I enjoyed being a fellow traveler on her project. I can hear her distinctive voice in my head right now as I imagine her. She will be missed by many, many academics who crossed her path during her life, cut short much too early. I send my sincere sympathies to Willa's son and all her family and those who loved her.
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Donald Richards posted a condolence
Monday, October 23, 2023
I learnt much from observing my daughter work on an undergraduate research project, "Henri Vever and the Parisian Art World of the Late-Nineteenth Century," supervised by Willa. To watch my own child being educated through interactions with a world-class scholar like Willa was a remarkable experience for me. Willa was a wonderful person, a superb scholar, with high standards in teaching and mentoring. I am deeply grateful to have met her.
My family and I send our deepest condolences to Willa's family. I assure them that she will always be in our hearts and memories. May her memory be a blessing.
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Ekoke T. lit a candle
Monday, October 23, 2023
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May her soul finally rest from all the pain
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Yvonne Sohn lit a candle
Monday, October 23, 2023
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I mourn the loss of beautiful Willa. The world has lost a great scholar and mentor to so many, and most of all, a loving and devoted mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend. May she rest in peace. יהי זיכרה ברוך
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Ken Berger posted a condolence
Monday, October 23, 2023
A wonderful, beautiful person.
May Willa's memory always be a blessing and comfort to us all!
When we moved to State College, Ben and our son Isaac were the same age. Willa reached out to us to participate in monthly "tot shabbat". That and our shared Pesach seders were some of the highlights of our years in State College.
Willa is missed by so many and there is a little bit less light in the world today.
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Stephanie Laurent lit a candle
Monday, October 23, 2023
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Rest in peace, Ms. Silverman. Thank you for being a great mentor and dissertation director to my dad at Penn State!
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Theresa Brock posted a condolence
Monday, October 23, 2023
Our hearts are grieved at the passing of this wonderful scholar, teacher, and mentor. Willa's warmth and person-centered way of living are a model for all of us. She always made time for the people around her no matter how busy she was. Her playful spirit, innovative research (including on the fascinating topic of Henri Vever's diaries), generosity, and hospitality (fabulous parties) are memories we will cherish. We send deepest condolences to her family and to all those who are grieving. With warmest wishes, Theresa Brock and Carl Cornell (graduate alums in FFS at PSU)
A Memorial Tree was planted for Willa Silverman
Monday, October 23, 2023
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