Mrs. Maude E. (Harpster) Silvey, 78, a teacher in Bloomington-Normal more than 30 years, died Wednesday morning May 31, 1967 at Brokaw Hospital after a months’ illness. Her home was in the Lafayette Apartments, Normal, Illinois.

Mrs. Silvey was born in Olney, Illinois November 30, 1887 a daughter of William and Frances (Newell) Harpster. She married William C. Silvey in Olney in 1909 and he preceded her in death.

Mrs. Silvey was at Normal Central School from 1925 until retiring from teaching in 1956. The school has since been closed. She continued to teach after retirement as a substitute at Bloomington Junior High School and was employed two years at Illinois Wesleyan University’s Buck Memorial Library. For 20 years first at the old First Methodist Church, she was superintendent of the junior high department.

Mrs. Silvey was a graduate of Olney High School and Illinois State University. She was a member of the As You Like It Club, Woman’s Club, Easter Star, Brokaw Service League and Amateur Musical Club. She also belonged to the National Education Association and the Illinois Education Association. She worked with the Children’s Theater from its inception and was employed in the Brokaw Service League’s Thrift Shop at the hospital.

After retirement she also served for a time as house mother at IWU’s Sigma Alpha Iota Sorority.

Surviving Mrs. Silvey are a daughter, Mrs. Jean Powell, Glencoe; a son, Newell Silvey, Wooster, OH; a sister, Mrs. Ralph McKinney, Hudson; three brothers, Charles E. Harpster, Des Moines, IA, Gene Harpster, Cleveland, OH and Ralph Harpster, Palm Beach, FL; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Three sisters and three brothers preceded her in death.

The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) – Wednesday, May 31, 1967