4/21/1942 – 5/7/2026
Lawrence
Beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother, Henry Silvestri passed away suddenly, unexpectedly and without suffering on May 7. He was 84 years old. He is survived by his wife of 61 years Diane, their two children and five grandchildren.
Born in Vandergrift, PA the youngest of ten children in a big Italian family, he moved to Las Vegas, NV as a teenager. He earned a degree in Accounting and worked 30 years for the same company in Las Vegas and the Salt Lake City area. Upon early retirement he and Diane enjoyed many adventures on an ever-changing fleet of boats and motorhomes. They eventually settled in Lawrence, KS where they lived since 2004, snowbirding in Arizona for many of those years.
He was a wonderful woodworker and an accomplished stained glass artisan. He could fix anything and was happy to help others with their projects. He couldn’t help being a helper—in all situations from serving on boards to cheerfully driving you to the airport. He was a long-time volunteer at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, and a man of deep faith.
Henry never met a stranger. He was a man of integrity and honor, warmth, compassion, and service. He lived well—a good, rich life—enjoyed and gave many blessings, and will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved him.
A celebration of Henry’s life will be held at a later date.
Note: The Lawrence Times is offering Lawrence and Douglas County community members space to publish remembrances of loved ones who lived in this community, free of charge. These pieces are submitted by family and friends of the deceased and not written by our staff. Photos are also provided to the publication, and some may have been altered prior to submission. Read more obituaries here.
We are honored to be able to offer this service free to community members in mourning. We believe the last thing our neighbors need in those difficult moments is another financial matter to worry about. Please support the Times to help us continue providing this service — and news access — for all.
To submit an obituary to The Lawrence Times, please fill out the form at this link. We’re sorry, but we cannot accept obituary submissions via email or other means.
Receive obituaries via email
As of May 2026, we are launching a newsletter that will include obituaries only. Obituaries will no longer appear in our daily emails. You can sign up below to receive any and all of our emails. If you already receive our daily, weekly and/or occasional emails and you want to keep receiving them, please check those boxes as well.
Please make sure you click on the button that says “Yes, subscribe me to this list” in the email you receive or you will not receive future emails. That extra step is to protect you and make sure you’re not getting emails you don’t want.
