Maurice Enos Silva passed away on January 23, 2020 with his loving family by his side.

Maurice was born on May 14, 1939 to John and Frances Silva, immigrants from the Azores Islands. He grew up in a large family on a dairy farm at the end of Sage Road. He attended Grant Union School and Ferndale Union High School.

Maurice married his wife, Betty, in 1957. They enjoyed 62 years of marriage and raised four sons.

For a short while he operated the home dairy farm on Sage Road. He was then self-employed as a woodchip hauler, selling the chips to local dairy farmers for their cows to bed down on. After chip-hauling he moved onto hauling raw milk in steel milk cans on a flatbed truck (dairy farms to the Challenge Dairy plant). The can-hauling business with time evolved into hauling raw milk by bulk tanker. Proudly Maurice kept that raw milk tanker route for 42 years.

After his retirement he entered a partnership with some friends to buy Becker’s Pool Hall and operate it, as it is known today, as Poppa Joe’s.

Maurice was a member of the Ferndale Rotary Club and served with the Ferndale Volunteer Fire Department (company #1) for many years. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing especially surf fishing at Centerville Beach. Each year for decades he enjoyed an old tradition of sausage-making. He and friends gathered each year for the two-day process of making sausages and salamis. He was an avid player of cards with his many friends, plus he was a true and loyal SF 49ers and SF Giants fan.

Maurice was loving and generous person with a great sense of humor. He loved laughing and joking with others and was always smiling as he made others smile and laugh, too. To many he was called by his nickname, Black or Blackie.

Maurice is survived by his wife Betty, sons Randy, Phillip, Kevin, Brian and grandson Evan Silva. His brothers, Joseph Silva, Frank Silva, sister Evelyn Parks and many nephews and nieces.

He was preceded in death by his parents John and Frances Silva, brothers John Silva, Henry (Angie) Silva, George Silva, and sisters Mary (Joe) Mendes, Angie Dias, Velma (Joe) Roach, Lucy (Tony) Rocha and Alice Kirtley.

Memorial Services will be on Monday, February 17, at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Ferndale, at 11:30 a.m., with Deacon Tom Silva officiating.

A private family graveside service will be held at the Ferndale Cemetery.

Donations in his memory can be made to Ferndale Fire Department at P.O. Box 485 Ferndale Ca. 95536.