Madeleine Beth Silverman's Obituary
Madi Silverman of Kailua, Oahu passed away at home with family by her side on April 25, 2024, after battling metastatic melanoma since June 2023.
Madi excelled at life. She was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother to her family, a loyal friend and great neighbor. She loved running the Honolulu marathon (with minimal training), played and coached soccer, paddled for Kailua and loved the outdoors and hiking. Everyone described Madi as brave, courageous and tough, but also uniquely full of life, optimistic and eternally happy. She uplifted all who knew her with her exuberance, thoughtfulness, and love. Her passing is felt deeply by her family, many friends, workmates, and colleagues throughout the islands.
Madi was born in Pittsburgh, PA to Dr. Mendel and Tamara Silverman and was the oldest of four children. She grew up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, attended Allderdice High School and graduated from Duquesne University with a BS in Special Education in 1976.
She served in the Peace Corps in Gabon, Central Africa from 1976-78 teaching English and health subjects in a rural high school. She came to Hawaii in July 1980 to study for a master’s degree in public health at UH Manoa and graduated in May 1982.
Following graduation, she filled a variety of roles at Kokua Kalihi Valley Health Clinic and Kalihi Palama Health Clinic before accepting a state position at the Dept of Health and Human Services in the Long-Term Care Branch in 1989. While she worked in several positions within the department, she was best known for her work as the Project Director of the Hawai’i “Money Follows the Person/Going Home Plus” Program. She was responsible for over 700 successful transitions from institutions to the community allowing those desiring to age in place to do so with dignity. Madi worked extremely hard putting in long hours of dedicated effort to this program. Due to her knowledge and experience she became a valuable resource, and her loss will be felt widely and deeply.
Our “marvelously merry” Madi will be sorely missed by her husband, Dale Jensen, children, Will (Tessa) and Samantha (Grey Saul), her four granddaughters Bodhi, Pippa, Talia and Ophelia, her two sisters Dr. Jan Silverman (Dave Rand), and Dr. Susie Smith (Scott), brother, Ron Silverman, her sister-in-law, Diane Jensen, her several nieces, nephews and her large community of friends in Kailua, across Oahu and the mainland.
A memorial service for Madi will be held at Kalama Beach Club, 280 N Kalaheo Avenue, Kailua, HI 96734 on Sunday, June 30th starting at 10:00 am. Please direct donations to Institute for Human Services (https://ihshawaii.org/donate/) or Doctors Without Borders (https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/).
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