Post by Marc LeVine on Aug 17, 2006 17:01:46 GMT -5
In Memory of Harry Silvert
Silvert offered support for community causes
Furniture store owner was pillar of Freehold for more than 50 years
BY DICK METZGAR
Staff Writer
Harry and Evelyn Silvert were honored in 2001 along with other founders of Freehold Area Hospital, Freehold Township (now CentraState Medical Center.)
FREEHOLD — For more than half a century, downtown Freehold was Harry Silvert’s stomping ground.
Silvert, who spent his adult life building his South Street furniture business into a success far beyond the borders of the town, always had a special love for the county seat and its people.
The prominent local merchant died suddenly of cardiac arrest at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, on Oct. 20. He was 87. While Silvert was most recently a resident of the Westlake adult community in Jackson and of Lake Worth, Fla., he spent most of his life in Freehold Borough.
Harry Silvert, the longtime owner of Silvert’s furniture in Freehold Borough, enjoyed playing bocce after moving to the Westlake adult community in Jackson.
Almost to the end, Silvert could be seen at the outdoor cafes on the promenade on East Main Street dining and observing the bustling activity in the downtown area. He had a cheerful hello for everybody.
“Harry loved those outside cafes,” his wife, Evelyn, said. “He thought they were one of the best things that ever happened for Freehold. And he had this great love for the town.”
Silvert was much more than just a successful businessman, according to other old-time merchants who knew him best.
“Harry was one of the prominent businessmen in the area for many years,” said James Ballew, of Ballew Jewelers, West Main Street, a longtime friend. “We played tennis together for years late into his life. Harry was much more than a businessman. He was also a noted local philanthropist who became involved in many projects to help better the community.”
In the 1960s, Harry and Evelyn Silvert were among the active fund-raisers who rallied support for the construction of a western Monmouth County hospital. Freehold Area Hospital (now CentraState Medical Center) opened in 1971.
Following a disastrous fire about 40 years ago that destroyed a row of businesses near what is now the Monmouth County Hall of Records, East Main Street, Silvert and Al Sorcher, who operated Al’s Bootery, West Main Street, spearheaded a drive to raise money for an aerial ladder truck for the Freehold Fire Department.
“The two of them raised $50,000 in one week for the purchase of the truck,” Evelyn Silvert said.
She said her husband was the first sponsor of a drive for Israel bonds when no one was even sure the bonds would be repaid by the state of Israel.
Silvert was among a handful of downtown merchants and professionals who got together to form the Freehold Center Partnership in the early 1990s. The idea was to come up with an action plan to rehabilitate the borough’s downtown business center.
Many early morning meetings were held in Silvert’s furniture store on South Street as the founders of the partnership met to discuss plans to revitalize the business district.
“Harry always seemed to be optimistic,” Ballew said. “Aside from his own business, he was always an advocate for anything that was important to the community.”
Silvert’s father, Isadore Silvert, founded the family furniture business after arriving in the borough from near Philadelphia in 1929 when Harry was 12. Silvert graduated from Freehold High School in 1935 and joined his father in the late 1930s. He took over the business following his father’s death more than 50 years ago. By that time Harry and Evelyn, who graduated from high school in Toms River, were married.
“When Harry came into the business with his father it was really a small store,” Mrs. Silvert said. “His father rented the building where the store was located. After his father passed away, we decided to buy the building and expand.”
The rest is history. The store, which borders Mechanic Street, where run down, vacated buildings were razed and new office buildings were erected in their place in the late 1990s, has been added on to and modernized many times over the years.
“There was never a time when we considered moving the business out of the borough, even when the neighborhood wasn’t that great,” Mrs. Silvert said. “We could have moved the business to Route 9, but we decided that our future was in Freehold so we stuck it out and expanded and improved our business. And it worked. We have customers from throughout the eastern part of the country who still shop at the store.”
It is probably safe to say that most families in the borough, young and old, have shopped at Silvert’s.
“Young couples just getting started used to come to the store and said they needed furniture but had little money,” Mrs. Silvert said. “Harry told them not to worry, that he would sell them the furniture and they could pay him back a little bit each week. In his quiet humble way, Harry was extremely generous, caring and philanthropic without seeking recognition.”
Silvert is survived by his wife, Evelyn; his children, Joan Kober and her husband, Alan, of Dresher, Pa., Glenn Silvert and his fiancee, of Manalapan, Ann Silvert, of Freehold, and Dale Iserson and her husband, Larry, of Freehold Township; and seven grandchildren.
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Silvert offered support for community causes
Furniture store owner was pillar of Freehold for more than 50 years
BY DICK METZGAR
Staff Writer
Harry and Evelyn Silvert were honored in 2001 along with other founders of Freehold Area Hospital, Freehold Township (now CentraState Medical Center.)
FREEHOLD — For more than half a century, downtown Freehold was Harry Silvert’s stomping ground.
Silvert, who spent his adult life building his South Street furniture business into a success far beyond the borders of the town, always had a special love for the county seat and its people.
The prominent local merchant died suddenly of cardiac arrest at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, on Oct. 20. He was 87. While Silvert was most recently a resident of the Westlake adult community in Jackson and of Lake Worth, Fla., he spent most of his life in Freehold Borough.
Harry Silvert, the longtime owner of Silvert’s furniture in Freehold Borough, enjoyed playing bocce after moving to the Westlake adult community in Jackson.
Almost to the end, Silvert could be seen at the outdoor cafes on the promenade on East Main Street dining and observing the bustling activity in the downtown area. He had a cheerful hello for everybody.
“Harry loved those outside cafes,” his wife, Evelyn, said. “He thought they were one of the best things that ever happened for Freehold. And he had this great love for the town.”
Silvert was much more than just a successful businessman, according to other old-time merchants who knew him best.
“Harry was one of the prominent businessmen in the area for many years,” said James Ballew, of Ballew Jewelers, West Main Street, a longtime friend. “We played tennis together for years late into his life. Harry was much more than a businessman. He was also a noted local philanthropist who became involved in many projects to help better the community.”
In the 1960s, Harry and Evelyn Silvert were among the active fund-raisers who rallied support for the construction of a western Monmouth County hospital. Freehold Area Hospital (now CentraState Medical Center) opened in 1971.
Following a disastrous fire about 40 years ago that destroyed a row of businesses near what is now the Monmouth County Hall of Records, East Main Street, Silvert and Al Sorcher, who operated Al’s Bootery, West Main Street, spearheaded a drive to raise money for an aerial ladder truck for the Freehold Fire Department.
“The two of them raised $50,000 in one week for the purchase of the truck,” Evelyn Silvert said.
She said her husband was the first sponsor of a drive for Israel bonds when no one was even sure the bonds would be repaid by the state of Israel.
Silvert was among a handful of downtown merchants and professionals who got together to form the Freehold Center Partnership in the early 1990s. The idea was to come up with an action plan to rehabilitate the borough’s downtown business center.
Many early morning meetings were held in Silvert’s furniture store on South Street as the founders of the partnership met to discuss plans to revitalize the business district.
“Harry always seemed to be optimistic,” Ballew said. “Aside from his own business, he was always an advocate for anything that was important to the community.”
Silvert’s father, Isadore Silvert, founded the family furniture business after arriving in the borough from near Philadelphia in 1929 when Harry was 12. Silvert graduated from Freehold High School in 1935 and joined his father in the late 1930s. He took over the business following his father’s death more than 50 years ago. By that time Harry and Evelyn, who graduated from high school in Toms River, were married.
“When Harry came into the business with his father it was really a small store,” Mrs. Silvert said. “His father rented the building where the store was located. After his father passed away, we decided to buy the building and expand.”
The rest is history. The store, which borders Mechanic Street, where run down, vacated buildings were razed and new office buildings were erected in their place in the late 1990s, has been added on to and modernized many times over the years.
“There was never a time when we considered moving the business out of the borough, even when the neighborhood wasn’t that great,” Mrs. Silvert said. “We could have moved the business to Route 9, but we decided that our future was in Freehold so we stuck it out and expanded and improved our business. And it worked. We have customers from throughout the eastern part of the country who still shop at the store.”
It is probably safe to say that most families in the borough, young and old, have shopped at Silvert’s.
“Young couples just getting started used to come to the store and said they needed furniture but had little money,” Mrs. Silvert said. “Harry told them not to worry, that he would sell them the furniture and they could pay him back a little bit each week. In his quiet humble way, Harry was extremely generous, caring and philanthropic without seeking recognition.”
Silvert is survived by his wife, Evelyn; his children, Joan Kober and her husband, Alan, of Dresher, Pa., Glenn Silvert and his fiancee, of Manalapan, Ann Silvert, of Freehold, and Dale Iserson and her husband, Larry, of Freehold Township; and seven grandchildren.
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