Judith Silberhorn

Judith Blaine Silberhorn (81) began the next chapter of her soul's journey on November 10th, 2024.

Judy was born in Madison Wisconsin on April 6th, 1943 as the oldest child of her parents, George and Mary-Margaret (n.Kirby) Blaine. As a toddler, her earliest memories were while living  in Brooklyn New York, where her father was stationed in the Naval Yards.  At the end of WWII, she and her parents made the cross-country move to South Pasedena California in an air-stream trailer.

She grew up attending Mayfield Academy for Girls, where she was educated by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. She enjoyed equestrian lessons, dance cotillion, ice skating and skiing in the winter or sailing and water skiing with her family every summer at their cabin in the Thousand Islands. After graduating from Mayfield, she attended San Diego Women's College, now the University of San Diego. She graduated in 1964 with a B.A. in Art History, and an elementary teaching certificate.

From 1964-1981  Judy was an educator for the Los Angeles City Unified District. She began teaching grades K-5 at Sierra Park Elementary before eventually moving out of the classroom and into the role of math and testing coordinator. She had many fond memories of her teaching years and maintained warm relationships with former students and colleagues, especially the adult children of the Morales Family, all of whom she taught within her career, and carried on a life long friendship with their mother, Becky.

Judy loved to travel would spend her summers driving throughout Europe with her best friends. Her favorite place was the Greek Islands, where she would return several times. Often referring to herself as a "closet archeologist," Judy loved climbing over the ruins, exploring museums or sitting on the beach, often sketching or painting scenes from her travels.

Judy met her future husband, Michael Silberhorn in 1971, on a blind date, arranged by a friend. She arrived at her friend's house, and was startled when a "tall, gangly guy with a mustache, and long sideburns jumped out from behind the door" to surprise her.  They married on February 16th of 1974 at St. Phillips Church of South Pasedena.  They adopted their only daughter, Lisa, in 1983, and moved to the Midwest in 1987, to follow Mike's growing career.

They raised their daughter, Lisa, in Wheaton Illinois. During that time, Judy was very active as a volunteer in their local church and catholic school, St. James the Apostle in Glen Ellyn Illinois, taking on the roles as a Girl Scout Troup Leader, cookie sale coordinator, and Art and Environment committee chair. She also continued her work in education as a part time pre-school teacher for "Learn and Grow Academy." When not volunteering or working, Judy could be found painting, sewing or driving her daughter and friends to voice and dance lessons, as well as many choir concerts, rehearsals for plays and musicals.

After their daughter graduated from high school in 2001, Judy and Mike moved to the "Candlewick Lake" community outside of Rockford Illinois. There, they enjoyed a more relaxed lifestyle on the water, enjoying their boats. Judy returned to her love of painting, especially her watercolor landscapes, and took on a position as the director of a play-school at the Belvidere united Methodist Church. Together she and Mike volunteered for the local chapter of the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" in support of their close friend, Carol Brown.

After retiring and moving to a townhouse in Rockford proper, she and Mike continued to travel across North America, and seeing many of the U.S. National Parks. One of her favorite journeys with him was cruising Alaska's inside passage and traveling by train through Denali National Park. Mike preceded her in death on August 30th of 2013, just shy of 40 years of marriage. After several years of declining health, Judy moved to Oak Creek Wisconsin in November of 2023, to be closer to her immediate family.

Judy is preceded in death by her parents, her aunts (Mary-Kay Kirby, Ann Kirby, and Josephine "Dodie" Kirby) as well as her younger sister (Constance Blaine-Van Eaton) She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, (Lisa and Jake Maxfield of South Milwaukee WI) her brothers, (George Blaine Jr. of San Jose CA and Joseph Blaine of Thousand Oaks CA) her brother and sister-in-law, (Trina and Frank Dalton of Riverside CA) her nieces and nephews. (Anne Marie Montgomery,  Eileen Marramma,  Brendan Blaine, Tricia Veselic, Taylor Blaine, and Alex Blaine) as well as her great-nieces and nephews. (Doree Browning, Eva and Enzo Maramma, Leo Veselic, Paxton Blaine and Emma Blaine)

Her visitation will be held on Saturday November 16th, at noon, followed by a 1pm Funeral Service at Molthen-Bell and Sons Funeral Home in South Milwaukee. Attendees are asked to wear "Blue," after Judy's long standing family nickname.