Longtime Lakeside resident Gilbert “Gil” Silverman died September 5 in the El Paraiso Convalescent Home in La Floresta, where he had resided for several months. He was 79 years old.
Born February 4, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, Silverman studied medicine at the University of Bern (Switzerland). After graduating in 1960, he undertook a residency at the Duke University Medical Center until 1966. He then worked at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center and obtained a Fellowship from the Medical College of Virginia in 1970. He spent his career as a pediatrician and psychiatrist in New York, Virginia and South Carolina.
Silverman moved to Lakeside around 1998. He volunteered at the Lake Chapala Society for several years and developed its Health Care Program and Health Weeks. He was a member of the Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation and was connected to Maskaras Clinic in Riberas del Pilar as a consulting psychiatrist.
In his last days Silverman enjoyed the company of his friends and savored the lunches that they brought to him each Tuesday. He also enjoyed listening to all the gossip surrounding the U.S. presidential candidates.
Silverman is survived by his seven children, Mark, Ellen, Deborah, Phillip, Mary and William, many grandchildren and his life partner of several years Theresa Beach.
Silverman was buried September 6 in the Jewish section of the cemetery in Ixtlahuacan.
According to those close him, although his life was sometimes troubled, he was able to find peace and forgiveness within himself in his last days. Sometimes admired, sometimes controversial, Silverman was a real presence in the foreign community of Lakeside.