September 7, 1930 – January 1, 2025
David M. Silverstein, M.D., died on January 1, 2025, after a brief illness. He spent his last days surrounded by his four children, several grandchildren, and other family members and friends. He was 94.
David, known to most in his later years as “Doc”, was born September 7, 1930, in Rochester, NY, to Joseph and Margaret Silverstein (née Goldberg). He had one sibling, Beatrice, previously deceased, and grew up amongst extended family. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School in Rochester in 1948, he was awarded a B.A. from Antioch College in 1953. He obtained a Master’s and Doctor of Medicine degree from Wayne State University, graduating in 1959. After entering the Navy, he served as a Battalion Surgeon in the U.S. Marine Corps and for many years thereafter in the U.S. Naval Reserve before his Honorable Discharge in 1972.
After completing a Residency in Neurosurgery at Hartford Hospital in 1966 and a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Neurosurgery at Yale University in 1967, David entered private practice in the Naugatuck River Valley. He operated primarily at Griffin and Milford Hospitals and served in many leadership positions, including President of the Medical Staff at Griffin Hospital and President of the New Haven County Medical Association. David was a brilliant surgeon who always put his patients first. His family fondly recalls former patients thanking David, in person and in writing, for the dramatic improvements to their lives resulting from David’s medical treatment and “magic hands”.
David met Alicia, a widow with two young children, Mark and Julie, and they were married in September 1965. David and Alicia had two more children together, Zach and Sabrina. David often referred to Alicia as “LOML” (for “Love of My Life”) and they shared 54 years of marriage until Alicia’s death in 2019. Longtime residents of Milford and Woodbridge, CT, they enjoyed music and theater at Woolsey Hall and the Yale Repertory Theater in New Haven, and opera at the Met in New York City. They spent their later years together at The Greens of Cannondale in Wilton, CT, where David became President of the Residents Council. He won over staff and fellow residents with his ready wit and humorous one-liners.
David leaves his four children, Mark, Julie, Zach, and Sabrina; their spouses Kathy, Kim, Marisa, and Andrew; and his grandchildren Catrina, Levi, Nina, Celia, and Will. He will be remembered for his scalpel-sharp intellect, his wicked and irreverent sense of humor, his professional life of service, and his devotion to family and country. The family asks that no gifts or flowers be sent.
