Leonard P Silk

Mar 17, 1917 - May 5, 2005

Silk, Leonard P. East Lansing Age 85, died Sunday, May 5, 2002. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Mar 7, 1917, the son of Samuel Hyman Silk and Agnes Silk. His mother died in 1920, and he moved to South Bend, Indiana, where he was raised by his grandmother, Cecelia Schwartz. He married Dorothy Roth of South Bend on Thanksgiving Day, 1942.

Their sons, Spencer and Jim were born in South Bend. The family moved to Lansing in 1955 and East Lansing in 1959. Leonard was an automotive engineer and worked Studebaker Motors in South Bend for 17 years. He was especially proud of his involvement in the design of the award-winning 1953 Studebaker and, in his retirement, lovingly restored "the Studebaker" that had been the family car 40 years before. After moving to Michigan, he worked as an engineer at Oldsmobile until his retirement in 1982.

After a retirement of less than a year, he returned to work at General Motors and continued his career as an engineer for another 15 years. In retirement, he enjoyed travel with his wife and spending time with his grandchildren. He belonged to the Studebaker Drivers Club and the Lansing Chapter of the Veteran Motor Club of America. He was an avid skier. He learned to ski when he was 50 and, until his illness, a high point of every year was an annual trip to ski in the Rocky Mountains.

He loved children. For several years, as a volunteer, he taught blind children to ski at the Lansing Ski Club. After his retirement, he tutored children at the Sheridan Road Elementary School, in Lansing through Literacy Volunteers. Most of all, he was recognized by all who knew him as an extraordinary father and grandfather. He was a member of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Lansing.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Dorothy Silk; his sons and Spencer A. Silk of Bloomfield Hills James J. and Jean V. Silk of New Haven, Connecticut; and his grandchildren, Stephanie, Jonah, Stephen, and Kira.

Funeral services be held at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7, at Congregation Shaarey Zedek at 1924 Coolidge Road in Lansing, with Rabbi Morton Hoffman presiding. Burial will be at Evergreen Cemetery, Lansing. Memorial contributions may be made to Literacy Volunteers, the Breslin Cancer Center in Lansing, or Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

Sources: Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com and FindAGrave.com

11/22/2025 EJS

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/119314825/leonard_p-silk