David Silver, ’90, was honored with the Distinguished Service Award from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). The Best of Eastern Alumni Awards, presented annually during Homecoming weekend, celebrate excellence among EKU alumni. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes those who have demonstrated a heart of service with EKU or within their communities. Recipients of this award are giving of their time and talents in an effort to support awareness, facilitate growth and advocate for those around them.
Silver has spent a lifetime serving others. From his 24 years of volunteering with the Penn Wynne Fire Department in Pennsylvania, which began in his teenage years, to decades of teaching at Madison Central, to traveling the nation with the American Red Cross, Silver’s life has been about showing up—wherever and whenever he was needed.
As a Red Cross volunteer, he deployed more than 20 times across the country, often arriving just as wildfires or storms struck to open shelters, deliver meals and sit beside families who had lost everything. Whether sleeping on a cot with “100 of his closest friends” or slipping dog treats into his disaster van, Silver brought humanity, humor and hope to the hardest of moments.
“Doing good things for other people is good for you,” said Silver. “That’s what my life is all about.”
At EKU, he earned his master’s degree in 1990 and never looked back. Today, you’ll find him at nearly every Colonel sporting event—football, basketball, baseball, softball—cheering as loudly as anyone. For Silver, it’s always been about students, two of which he proudly calls his grandchildren. His daughter Julie calls his heart “genetic,” pointing out that his four children all inherited his drive to serve, whether in classrooms, courtrooms, police departments or libraries.
While his children will certainly continue his lifestyle of service, Silver’s legacy stretches far outside of his family. His impact is felt by every camper whose life he saved with CPR and every family whose home and life was burned to the ground that Silver met with a smile and emergency card. Though he will brush off his experiences as a product of his life’s motto: “Be nice. Always,” Silver has made countless lives better because he stopped, stayed and cared.
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