SILVA, ROCHA, HAGEDOHM

Posted by Cathy Gowdy on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 at 05:22:14 :

Independent Journal
Monday, December 3, 1979

Novato’s ‘Babe’ Silva dead at 72

Manuel “Babe” Silva, Novato’s second mayor and a member of one of the city’s pioneer families. Died Sunday afternoon of a heart attack while driving home from a hunting trip near Stockton.

Silva, 72, was born in Marinwood. His parents, Frank and Rosa, moved the family to Novato when he was about 6 months old.

At the time, only about 300 or 400 persons lived in the area, according to family members.

Silva’s father opened a general store on Grant Avenue and also founded the city’s first bank.

Manuel Silva attended Grant Avenue Elementary School, San Rafael High School and St. Mary’s High School and College in Moraga.

He worked in the dairy business for many years and spent the last 25 years of his career as a field representative for the Borden Co. He retired in the mid-1960s.

He served two terms on the Novato City Council and was elected for the first time when the city was incorporated in 1960. He was defeated when he ran for re-election in 1964, but then won office again in 1966. He served as mayor from 1962 to 1964.

He had a longtime interest in baseball and was briefly a member of the St. Louis Browns baseball team. He founded the city’s Little League. The baseball field at Rancho Elementary School was named after him.

He was a member of Our Lady of Loretto Church and also belonged to the Rotary Club of Novato; Novato Druids Lodge No. 113; San Rafael Elks Lodge No. 1108; St. Mary’s Alumni Association; and the Novato chapter of the I.D.E.S.I., a Portuguese fraternal organization.

His wife, Marion, died in 1972.

Surviving are two sons, Michael Joseph Silva of Novato and Frank Robert Silva of Sonoma; two sisters, Rose Rocha of Petaluma and Mary Hagedohm of Petaluma; and two grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Loretto Church in Novato. The rosary will be recited at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Church. Burial will be at Mount Olivet Cemetery in San Rafael.