Silverstein, Norman

SILVERSTEIN, Norman

Norman B. Silverstein died peacefully on August 20, 2024, in Dunwoody, Georgia, a few weeks shy of his 90th birthday.

Born on September 13, 1934, in Brooklyn, New York to parents, Irving and Lillian Silverstein. Norman grew up in a tight knit family, alongside his baby brother, Ronnie, and next door to his aunt, uncle and cousins. A proud Brooklynite and baseball enthusiast, Norman's sole disappointment in his otherwise happy childhood occurred when the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles.

Norman met his future wife, Diane at a sweet sixteen party, and upon graduating high school, he proudly served in the U.S. Army before returning home to marry Diane and study business at City College. Norman found success in the corporate world, ultimately taking an executive position at a large Florida-based citrus company. In 1972, the family relocated from the chilly Northeast to sunny Miami. Norman was then transferred to Tampa, and finally Sarasota in 1978, where Norm and Diane remained until 2022. Later in his career, Norman became a successful certified Business Broker, served as SCORE mentor, and was the longtime treasurer of his HOA.

Norman possessed a wonderful sense of humor, and friendly and outgoing nature. Within minutes of meeting him, you would likely learn that he hailed from Brooklyn, attended Lincoln High School, loved chocolate (he shared a birthday with Milton Hershey!), was a military veteran, enjoyed meals at First Watch, and drove only Lexus cars. You would also learn that he was a sports fan, as evidenced by his signature Braves cap which he wore every day, along with a crisp Brooks Brothers shirt and khaki pants. Norman was a Broadway, big band/Frank Sinatra music and film aficionado who could sing all the lyrics to any musical, knew every word of dialog from "Casablanca," and could recite Abbott and Costello's entire "Who's on First" comedy routine verbatim. Norman was a proud fitness devotee and enjoyed running, pushups, and later mall walking, always making time for a pit stop at Starbucks, where all the baristas knew his name.

Paramount to all the facets and interests in Norman's life was his love for his family. "We have the best family! Everyone gets along!" he often bragged, and it was true, largely because Norman passed along his own nuclear family's legacy of love and harmony to the next generations. Norman was the quintessential hands-on dad, grandfather, and great-grandfather, always willing to get on his hands and knees to engage with the kids. Dad shared his deep sense of patriotism, love of music, books (mostly espionage and legal thrillers), theatre, sports, strong code of ethics, and business acumen with his family, cultivating individual relationships with each family member, keeping up with their school, sports, careers and hobbies, attending concerts and countless children's theatre productions. Norman relished in celebrating family milestones beaming with pride as he recited blessings over the wine and challah.

Norman was fond of quoting from baseball great Lou Gehrig's famous retirement speech, "…I consider myself the luckiest man on earth." And surely, everyone whose lives Norman touched consider themselves to be pretty darn lucky too.

Norman was preceded in death by his son, Lee Silverstein; and is survived by his loving wife of 68 years, Diane; beloved brother, Ronnie Silverstein (Claire); daughters, Layla Berger (Brian) and Marjie Shindler (Norman); as well as seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude Children's Hospital. Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.

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