In memoriam: Roslyn Silver

Dawson mourns the passing of one of the most distinctive voices and enthusiastic members of its community. Roslyn Silver passed away on November 24 after facing health challenges for a number of years. She was surrounded by her loved ones and closest friends until the end.

Roslyn started her long career at Dawson in 1979 and retired 36 years later in 2015, ending her career in the Dean’s Office in Social Science and Business Technologies as one of the administrative assistants on staff.

Known for her flamboyant style, her trademark laugh and her gregarious delivery of information, Roslyn charmed colleagues into buying raffle tickets for fundraising events, especially for students, for whom she had a special attachment, and their activities.

She was no less generous with her colleagues. When longtime Political Science and Humanities teacher Myron Galan became confined to a wheelchair from the effects of multiple sclerosis, she made sure she could accompany him to and from his adapted transport departures from the College and arrivals, regaling him in her own inimitable way all the way down the corridors.

Her many trips to Cuba, for which she collected toiletries and clothes and household items to bring to the families she had befriended there, brought her joy.

In her latter decades at Dawson, Roslyn had the singular experience of working for two Deans who would go on to become Academic Deans: Diane Gauvin, who then became Director General, and Leanne Bennett, who is Interim Director General.

As with everything Roslyn did, she did it on her own terms. She requested no funeral service, but those at Dawson who were lucky enough to cross her path will remember her bright eyes and equally bright outfits with matching glasses, nail polish, and sometimes even her hair colour. Wherever you are, Roz, the party just got a bit more fun.