James V. Silvestri

Bassick High School Instructor For 34 Years

James V. Silvestri II, 65, of Easton, died March 11 in Yale-New Haven Hospital. He was a 16-year survivor of a heart transplant. Born in Bridgeport to Alphonse and the late Florence Hughes Silvestri, he was a lifelong area resident.

Survivors include his beloved wife Margaret Pitt Silvestri; his sister, Deborah Kennedy and her husband, Theodore, of Sandy Hook; his father, Alphonse Silvestri of Stratford; his daughter, Brenda Maselli and her husband, Joseph, of Old Saybrook; two sons, James Silvestri III of Norwalk and Hughes Silvestri and his wife, Ana, of Knoxville, Tenn.; and two grandchildren, Margaret and Joseph Maselli.

Mr Silvestri was a graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was employed by Sikorsky Aircraft for seven years. He then did graduate work at Central Connecticut State University and became a teacher in the Bridgeport School System. He taught for 34 years at Bassick High School, where he coached the baseball team and was a coach in the Bridgeport PAL and American Legion summer leagues. He, his father, and his son also ran a family business, Spotwelders, Inc, in Stratford.

Funeral services were held March 15 in the Adzima Funeral Home, Stratford, and in Notre Dame Church Easton with a Mass of Christian Burial. Interment was in Mt Grove of Easton Cemetery.

Memorial donations can be made to the Heart Transplant Fund, c/o Yale-New Haven Hospital Heart Center, 20 York Street, New Haven CT 06510.

The Newtown Bee        March 17, 2006