Obituary
Michael L. Silverman, 83 died peacefully on March 13, 2022. Michael was born in Chicago, on August 9, 1938, to Kenneth and Sadie Silverman. He was proud to serve his country as an Airman 1st Class in the United States Air Force working as a mechanic. He married Masha Rochelle Tankus on January 23, 1960. The couple lived and raised their family in Arlington Heights where Michael co-owned Heights Cleaners and Draperies, a family business. Michael was actively involved in the Arlington Heights community where he served for 20 plus years on the Plan Commission, the Chamber of Commerce and numerous other organizations and community boards always in a leadership role. Michael was also a proud Rotarian and a Paul Harris Fellow. His door was always open to strangers and committed his life to helping others.
Michael's love of sports presented the opportunity to work with the coaching staff of the Chicago Bears by documenting plays via Polaroid for their evaluation during the games. He was fortunate to travel with the team and became personal friends with several football legends over the 18 years he spent with the Bears.
Michael helped many realize their dreams. At the age of 57, he also followed his own dream and started First Northwest Bank, a community bank, now Village Bank and Trust. Mike continued to serve on their Board of Directors until this past May.
Over Michael's life, he overcame many health obstacles that never seem to set him back from contributing to his family, community, and charities. His most noteworthy undergoing his heart transplant in 2007. The transplant was a miracle that not only saved his life, but also birthed the inception of Heart to Heart, a charity formed by Michael and Masha. Heart to Heart originally raised money for research focused on difficult to match cardiac transplants, as Michael was considered a difficult match. The goal of the research was to make the matching process easier and available to more individuals. Currently the focus of Heart to Heart's contributions to Northwestern Memorial Foundation are directed to money towards renal failure.
Michael was an adored father of Mara (Randy) Hauser, Mark Silverman, Sheryl (Tim) Lintner, and Lisa (Ryan) Anderson; proud grandfather of Samantha, Austin, Emily, Kendra, Lauryn, Kyle, and Jordan; treasured brother of Phyllis (Sheldon) Kramer, Steven (Sara) Silverman, Donna and David Lerner and Caren Tankus. He celebrated family and friends who were like family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Michael Silverman's memory to support nephrology at Northwestern Medicine (www.foundation.nm.org). Chapel service, Wednesday, March 16, 2022, 2:30 PM at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home 1700 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights, IL. Interment Shalom Memorial Park. For the link to view the service, shiva information and to leave condolences: Shalom Memorial Funeral Home, www.shalom2.com or (847) 255-3520.