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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Monday, December 7, 2015 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 from the funeral home, then to Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary RC Church, 45 Urban Club Road, Wayne, where at 10:00 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Entombment will follow at Maryrest Cemetery, Mahwah.
Lynda Mary Silvestri, age 50, of Wayne, passed away on Friday, December 4, 2015.
Since this past February, 2015, just before her 50th birthday party, Lynda began a brave battle with Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, also known as LAM Lung Disease, a disorder that is so rare, fewer than 2,000 women are known to have LAM today. LAM overwhelmingly affects younger women causing breathing problems similar to emphysema. This disease is progressive and so far, unfortunately, there is no cure.
Lynda was born in Paterson to her proud, loving parents Joe and Rosemarie Silvestri. She spent her childhood growing up in Oakland where her family moved shortly after her birth. She soon was joined by her little sister Tina and they enjoyed a great childhood together. As she grew, Lynda’s parents become increasingly aware that she had serious hearing impairment in both ears. Despite her inability to hear, Lynda was a bright, pleasant and happy child who attended elementary school through the Bergen County Special Services program. She graduated from Midland Park High School with the Class of 1984, and then went on to further study at Gallaudet University, a highly regarded college for the deaf, located in Washington D.C. She graduated in 1987 with an Associate’s Degree in Applied Sciences.
After college, Lynda launched into a rewarding career in the banking industry, initially working for Midlantic Bank before settling into a twenty-three year career as a consumer loan officer with Valley National Bank in Wayne. Lynda loved her work and the people she worked with.
Outside of work, Lynda had a host of interests. For example, she always held a special place in her warm heart for the many pets that she was blest to be loved by and blest to love. These pets included Puff, the sweet little black and white kitty of her childhood and a host of pooches including a cocker spaniel named Sandy, a poodle named Pepper, a husky mix named Benjie and two of her favorites: Chipper, a shepherd/collie mix who had a special bond with Lynda, nuzzling her awake in the morning when her alarm clock went off and letting her know when the doorbell rang-two things she needed help with since she couldn’t hear; and her Brittany spaniel named Buddy who truly was a buddy! The two of them enjoyed long walks together.
Lynda was always creating things and using those creations to bless her family and friends. Cross stitching was one of her favorite leisure-time activities and she made lots of them over the years. Her cross-stitch projects, some of which include a Christmas nativity scene, a church, The Lord’s Prayer, as well as wedding themed ones she made for her sister Tina and other friends when they got married, decorate the homes of many who Lynda generously shared with. She also loved to engage in the activity of scrapbooking. Her father Joe will always cherish a scrapbook Lynda made for him to honor his service in the U.S. Army. It has a beautiful Army-themed cover and is filled with great photographs of him during his Army days as well as other cool and creative decorations to celebrate the pride she felt for her Dad.
Lynda always loved this Christmas time of year. You’d definitely find her in the kitchen baking lots of Christmas cookies which she’d share with family, friends, and co-workers. She loved watching cooking and baking programs on television – especially “The Chew” which was a show dedicated to the exploration of life through food. Her other TV favorites included Switched at Birth, and as a child she could often be seen watching Little House on the Prairie. Then of course, there was that classic Peanuts character Snoopy. Lynda had a special place in her heart for that lovable animated beagle and she was known to collect any Snoopy-themed trinket she ever laid eyes on!
Lynda was extremely susceptible to the travel bugs itch – a trait she definitely picked up from her Grandma Silvestri. She thought nothing of traveling alone or with friends to distant places and she took many trips such as ones to visit her friend in Alaska, her boyfriend Michael in Ocean City, Maryland, to a cruise of the Caribbean including the islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix and to Puerto Rico as well as Orlando. While those were always great times, she loved being home with her family just as much. Lynda cherished family from the time she was a young girl and embraced things like the long-standing tradition of Friday-night pizza – mostly from Pizza Hut, and when her sister Tina would come over there was no one who treated her more hospitably than Lynda. When her nephew Matthew would come over to be taken care of by Grandma Rosemarie, Lynda would come home from work and spend quality aunt-nephew time with him. They had a great teasing relationship and Lynda enjoyed teaching Matt how to use sign language.
Lynda was truly one of the kindest human beings you’ll ever meet in your life. Her thoughtful caring, giving nature was a blessing to her family and the many friends she made along life’s pathway. No one in this life is perfect but Lynda was pretty-darn close. She just seemed to love everyone and never seemed to have a bad word to say about anyone.
Surviving till they are one-day reunited in heaven are Lynda’s dear parents: Joseph and Rosemarie Silvestri of Wayne; her much-loved younger sister Tina Marie Cillo-Bennett and husband James of West Milford; her adored nephew Matthew Cillo; and her dear cousin Nancy O’Leary who, along with Lynda and her sister Tina, always did life together and soon became known as “The Three Musketeers”.
To help find a cure for that which Lynda battled for the past year, those planning an expression of sympathy in her name are asked to consider The LAM Foundation, 4015 Executive Park Dr., Suite 320, Cincinnati, OH 45241 (http://www.thelamfoundation.org/).
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Monday, December 7, 2015 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 from the funeral home, then to Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary RC Church, 45 Urban Club Road, Wayne, where at 10:00 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Entombment will follow at Maryrest Cemetery, Mahwah.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Monday, December 7, 2015 from 2-4 and 7-9 PM.
Funeral Services will be held at 9:00 AM on Tuesday, December 8, 2015 from the funeral home, then to Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary RC Church, 45 Urban Club Road, Wayne, where at 10:00 AM a Funeral Mass will be offered. Entombment will follow at Maryrest Cemetery, Mahwah.
Lynda Mary Silvestri, age 50, of Wayne, passed away on Friday, December 4, 2015.
Since this past February, 2015, just before her 50th birthday party, Lynda began a brave battle with Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, also known as LAM Lung Disease, a disorder that is so rare, fewer than 2,000 women are known to have LAM today. LAM overwhelmingly affects younger women causing breathing problems similar to emphysema. This disease is progressive and so far, unfortunately, there is no cure.
Lynda was born in Paterson to her proud, loving parents Joe and Rosemarie Silvestri. She spent her childhood growing up in Oakland where her family moved shortly after her birth. She soon was joined by her little sister Tina and they enjoyed a great childhood together. As she grew, Lynda’s parents become increasingly aware that she had serious hearing impairment in both ears. Despite her inability to hear, Lynda was a bright, pleasant and happy child who attended elementary school through the Bergen County Special Services program. She graduated from Midland Park High School with the Class of 1984, and then went on to further study at Gallaudet University, a highly regarded college for the deaf, located in Washington D.C. She graduated in 1987 with an Associate’s Degree in Applied Sciences.
After college, Lynda launched into a rewarding career in the banking industry, initially working for Midlantic Bank before settling into a twenty-three year career as a consumer loan officer with Valley National Bank in Wayne. Lynda loved her work and the people she worked with.
Outside of work, Lynda had a host of interests. For example, she always held a special place in her warm heart for the many pets that she was blest to be loved by and blest to love. These pets included Puff, the sweet little black and white kitty of her childhood and a host of pooches including a cocker spaniel named Sandy, a poodle named Pepper, a husky mix named Benjie and two of her favorites: Chipper, a shepherd/collie mix who had a special bond with Lynda, nuzzling her awake in the morning when her alarm clock went off and letting her know when the doorbell rang-two things she needed help with since she couldn’t hear; and her Brittany spaniel named Buddy who truly was a buddy! The two of them enjoyed long walks together.
Lynda was always creating things and using those creations to bless her family and friends. Cross stitching was one of her favorite leisure-time activities and she made lots of them over the years. Her cross-stitch projects, some of which include a Christmas nativity scene, a church, The Lord’s Prayer, as well as wedding themed ones she made for her sister Tina and other friends when they got married, decorate the homes of many who Lynda generously shared with. She also loved to engage in the activity of scrapbooking. Her father Joe will always cherish a scrapbook Lynda made for him to honor his service in the U.S. Army. It has a beautiful Army-themed cover and is filled with great photographs of him during his Army days as well as other cool and creative decorations to celebrate the pride she felt for her Dad.
Lynda always loved this Christmas time of year. You’d definitely find her in the kitchen baking lots of Christmas cookies which she’d share with family, friends, and co-workers. She loved watching cooking and baking programs on television – especially “The Chew” which was a show dedicated to the exploration of life through food. Her other TV favorites included Switched at Birth, and as a child she could often be seen watching Little House on the Prairie. Then of course, there was that classic Peanuts character Snoopy. Lynda had a special place in her heart for that lovable animated beagle and she was known to collect any Snoopy-themed trinket she ever laid eyes on!
Lynda was extremely susceptible to the travel bugs itch – a trait she definitely picked up from her Grandma Silvestri. She thought nothing of traveling alone or with friends to distant places and she took many trips such as ones to visit her friend in Alaska, her boyfriend Michael in Ocean City, Maryland, to a cruise of the Caribbean including the islands of St. Thomas, St. Croix and to Puerto Rico as well as Orlando. While those were always great times, she loved being home with her family just as much. Lynda cherished family from the time she was a young girl and embraced things like the long-standing tradition of Friday-night pizza – mostly from Pizza Hut, and when her sister Tina would come over there was no one who treated her more hospitably than Lynda. When her nephew Matthew would come over to be taken care of by Grandma Rosemarie, Lynda would come home from work and spend quality aunt-nephew time with him. They had a great teasing relationship and Lynda enjoyed teaching Matt how to use sign language.
Lynda was truly one of the kindest human beings you’ll ever meet in your life. Her thoughtful caring, giving nature was a blessing to her family and the many friends she made along life’s pathway. No one in this life is perfect but Lynda was pretty-darn close. She just seemed to love everyone and never seemed to have a bad word to say about anyone.
Surviving till they are one-day reunited in heaven are Lynda’s dear parents: Joseph and Rosemarie Silvestri of Wayne; her much-loved younger sister Tina Marie Cillo-Bennett and husband James of West Milford; her adored nephew Matthew Cillo; and her dear cousin Nancy O’Leary who, along with Lynda and her sister Tina, always did life together and soon became known as “The Three Musketeers”.
To help find a cure for that which Lynda battled for the past year, those planning an expression of sympathy in her name are asked to consider The LAM Foundation, 4015 Executive Park Dr., Suite 320, Cincinnati, OH 45241 (http://www.thelamfoundation.org/).
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