Joseph Nelson Silva

Joseph N Silva passed away at his home on May 10, 2025, falling short of his goal of reaching 100 by eight months.

He was born on December 23, 1925, to a large Portuguese family consisting of eight brothers and two sisters.

Joe grew up in Santa Cruz, California and attended school there.

In 1943 he entered the US Army Air Corp Reserves (now the Air Force) as an Air Cadet and trained on the B-24 Lliberator Bomber, but thankfully the war ended before he saw combat.

Joe was proud of his 40 plus year career at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. He was an electrician and was later promoted to Foreman and General Forman. He retired in 1988 as a Planner/Estimator.

He loved cars, in particular Cadillac convertibles. He still owns his dads 1935 Oldsmobile sedan.

In 1947 he met Rita Lui who was from a long time Italian family in Napa, and they married in 1949.

Together they had five sons, Stephen (Kathy), Jayme, Brian, Nelson, and Paul, who predeceased him in 1994.

In 1976 he married Gloria Coleman and expanded the family to include Michael, Mark (Sharon) and Jeannie. Gloria predeceased him in 2015 and Jeannie in 2020.

He leaves behind several grandchildren, great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A Catholic and military service will be held at Tulocay Cemetery on June 18th at 11:00 A.M. with a reception following.

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