William Silver Ii

William Silver II, retired electrical engineer and World War II veteran, died at his home Friday, April 27, 2018 due to complications accompanying a long and well-lived life. He was 91.
Bill enjoyed a wild ride through much of the 20th century and a portion of the 21st. Born in 1927 to Francis Stokes Silver and Sara Poultney Ellicott, his early years were spent on the river hills of Darlington, MD. Upon graduation from Bel Air High School, he joined the Army to serve in World War II. His journey through life took him to VPI to train for work on the Manhattan Project, detoured to post-war Berlin to help with reconstruction then brought him back stateside for college life at the University of Maryland. There he met Charlotte Dunham Peverley whom he eventually wed in 1951. When the Silver family’s canning business closed in the mid-1950s, he earned a degree in electrical engineering and went to work for Glenn L. Martin Company. In the 1960s, he moved once more to work at Westinghouse Electric Company until his retirement in 1991. His expertise in the field of stress testing and reliability took him around the country and the world --- he tested how shock and vibration affected crucial electronic systems and cargo on planes, trains, rockets, submarines and tanks. During his term as President of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST), he presided over major growth in the industry and even traveled to England to meet Prince Charles.

The world as a whole fascinated Bill. He was as enthralled with scientific advances as he was with the machinations of business and politics; he loved history and antiques as much as hunting, tennis and golf. He enjoyed traveling with his wife and the company of friends old and young. He was a prodigious gardener and reader, a great husband and father and could make a mean mint julep.

He was predeceased by his wife of 62 years, Charlotte Peverley Silver, and one grandson, Andrew Ellicott Nealley (Drew). He is survived by his two sisters: Betsy Buchanan-Wollaston and Nancy Silver Connor; three children: Caroline Webster Harrison Silver (Kitty), Edmund Pendleton Hunter Silver (Ned) and Sarah Ellicott Silver Nealley; one son-in-law, Eric William Nealley; and one grandchild, William Hunter Harrison Nealley.

A celebration of his life will be held Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 11 AM at Deer Creek Friends Meeting in Darlington, MD with a reception to follow at Meadow Farm, 4544 Conowingo Road, Darlington, MD.