Lorraine Frances Silveira

Lorraine F. Silveira passed away March 10, 2021, joining her beloved husband, Tony, who died March 9 nine years ago, and her beloved son, Ron, who died December 13, 2000.

Born to Manuel and Frances Rosa on August 29, 1921, Lorraine was given the name her brother, Fred, admired. Lorraine grew up in Sausalito on the family homestead purchased by her grandfather Joaquin Pereira. Sausalito in those days was inhabited by many Portuguese people, Lorraine’s family included. Lorraine’s father was a dairyman (Sausalito Dairy, M.G. Rosa Dairy). His death when she was nine years old clouded her otherwise happy childhood. Her memories of him never dimmed. The devotion of her mother, the doting love of her grandmother (Maria Bettencourt Pereira), and the steadfast presence of her brother, Fred, sustained Lorraine following that loss.

Lorraine attended Central School in Sausalito and then Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. She graduated early and began working at “The Emporium” in San Francisco where she eventually specialized in cosmetics and fragrances. Lorraine enjoyed the world of retail and worked until 1947 when she married Anthony (Tony) Silveira whose family, also Portuguese, was in the dairy business in San Rafael and Novato. The following year, Lorraine and Tony welcomed a son, Ronald. Their daughter, Renee, was born seven years later.

Lorraine resumed her retail career with The Emporium once a new store opened in 1964 in Marin (Terra Linda). She retired from retail in the late 1990s. Totaling 40 years in her field, Lorraine was appreciated by not only her customers but also her colleagues. She had a strong work ethic and was an inspiring example of loveliness in her appearance and manner. Pictured above in 1946 and 2018, Lorraine was the epitome of the expression “beautiful inside and out.” She managed to successfully juggle work with her family life and was a truly devoted mother and wife – and an inspiring mother-in-law and grandmother following her son’s marriage to Susan Mugnolo in 1975. In addition, Lorraine assisted her husband with his dairy ranch business when he needed administrative help. She, along with her daughter, eventually assumed full responsibility for the business during Tony’s illness and after his death. Despite her own health challenges, Lorraine had remarkable vitality and enthusiastically participated in the lives of her much-loved grandchildren, Mary, Anthony and Michael Silveira. She was thrilled to witness each of them marry (spouses Aldon Bolanos, Bree Saltsman and Alexandra Zaniewski) and was overjoyed with her four adorable great-grandchildren, Brooke and Austin Bolanos and Charlotte and Jack Silveira. She also drew much pleasure from book reading, travel, gardening and spending time with her pets.

Lorraine’s life was additionally enhanced by her wonderful friends, some long-time and some more recent (San Rafael Goldenaires). Lorraine’s family wishes to thank them as well as the incomparable physicians who helped her live a long life: Carolyn Welty, Remo Morelli, as well as Thaddeus Whalen and T.E. Bailly, Jr. (both deceased).

On March 17, a private mass was held for Lorraine at St. Raphael’s Church. Thereafter she was interred next to her husband’s crypt not far from her son’s grave at the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery in San Rafael. Anyone wishing to make a charitable contribution in memory of Lorraine might consider the Ronald Silveira Memorial Scholarship Fund at Marin Catholic (675 Sir Francis Drake, Kentfield, CA 94904) or the St. Anthony Foundation (150 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102). Monte’s Chapel

Of The Hills

San Anselmo, CA 415-453-8440