Evelyn Kerr Silverstein dies at 89

Evelyn Kerr Silverstein, a former junior high nurse and teacher and army nurse, died on Jan. 5. She was 89.

A native of Brooklyn, Silverstein graduated from James Madison High School, Brooklyn College and the Kings County School of Nursing. She also attained a master’s in counseling through Empire State College.

Silverstein served valiantly as a U.S. Army nurse in the European Theatre during World War II and earned the rank of lieutenant. She returned home and shortly after that and married her husband Alvin.

For more than 20 years, Silverstein was a much-loved and respected school nurse and teacher at Woodmere Junior High School North and treated students’ needs both physically and emotionally.

“Her office was a haven for students and her presence was well-known within the Five Towns community,” said her daughter Laura Bedford.

A member of ORT, Hadassah and several other organizations, Silverstein took her concern for her community to Florida, when her and Alvin moved to Boynton Beach in 1986.

Not only did she continue playing tennis year-round until she was 87, but also served on her neighborhood board. “Evelyn made a difference no matter where she was living and no matter where she traveled. Her presence was palpable, and its absence will be significant to many, devastating to some,” Bedford said.

Alvin predeceased Silverstein in 2000. She is survived by her children, Laura Bedford and her husband Steven of New Hartford, Conn., and their children Emma and Nathaniel, her son Bert, of Houston, Texas, and his children Adam and Rebecca, and a brother, Alan Kerr, of Clio, Mich.

Donations in her name, celebrating her life, may be sent to The Pap Corps, Aberdeen Cancer Research Chapter, 7295 Southport Drive, Boynton Beach, FL 33472.