Alberta Silvia, 80, Was Bookkeeper, Scalloper

Alberta Mabel (Bert) Silvia of Oak Bluffs died June 16 at her home on Brush Pond Road surrounded by her family. She was 80.

Mrs Silvia was born on Jan. 27, 1922 in New Bedford and was young when she moved to the Vineyard with her parents, Steven Rae and Edith Mae Pease. Alberta was graduated from the Oak Bluffs High School. She attended Bryant College in Providence and married Raymond Silvia in 1942 before he enlisted to serve his country in World War II. During this time Alberta was doing her part to help her country by working as a welder in a Rhode Island shipyard.

During the D-Day invasion Ray was hurt badly on the shores of France; once recuperated well enough, he returned to the United States to Martha's Vineyard with Alberta to work at the pumping station at the Navy base (now the airport). Alberta, meantime, worked as a waitress for the Boston House Restaurant in Oak Bluffs (now Season's Pub).

Alberta became the bookkeeper at Island Technical Services, a television repair shop owned by her husband. She would go on to do bookkeeping for others, including the West Chop Club, the Twin Oaks Restaurant and for Edward (Pete) Vincent and his various businesses. Mrs. Silvia would winter in Port Orange, Fla., and she would help Larry Stockhause, CPA, to file taxes when the season came.

Mrs. Silvia kept herself busy by being a commercial scalloper and boat owner. When she wasn't to busy she loved a good game of poker, and with her poker face and a good bluff she only folded once in her days of playing. She also enjoyed occasional trips to the casino.

She was a member of the Trinity Methodist Church on the Camp Ground. She was the Past-Noble Grand of the Martha Rebecca Lodge, a member of the Eastern Star and member of the American Legion Women's Auxiliary.

Mrs. Silvia is survived by a daughter, Linda Taylor of Daytona Beach; two sons, Ray Silvia and his wife, Pam, of Oak Bluffs and Jack Silvia and his wife, Lynne, of Vineyard Haven; a sister, Dorothy J. Rylander of Bridgeman, Mich.; six grandchildren, Colette Kelly, Kelly O'Connell and Jared, Brant, Chase and Tony Silvia; two great-grandchildren, Tayla Kelly and Ryan O'Connell. She will be missed by many friends including her childhood friend, Helen Peacock of Oak Bluffs.

A graveside service will be held in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Oak Bluffs at 2 p.m. on Friday, June 21, officiated by the Rev. Daniel Freitas. Donations may be made in her memory to Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or to the Trinity United Methodist Church, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557. Arrangements are by the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home in Oak Bluffs.