Joel Preston Silvey

After a long and well-lived life, Joel Preston Silvey passed away on Wednesday, July 26, 2023 at the Hospice Home.  He was born in Lynchburg, VA on January 31, 1941 to the late Joel Archie Silvey and Lois Preston Silvey.

He is survived by his wife of 29 years and the love of his life, Patsy “Pat” Silvey; step-daughter, April Schamberg, (Eric) and their children, Emery and Julian; step-son, Wesley Berrier (Angie), their son Jake Berrier (Lindsay) and their son (Joel’s great grandson) Kellan.

Joel was raised in Blacksburg, VA and graduated from Blacksburg High School in 1959.  He was a four-year letterman in football, basketball, track and golf.  He played football at both the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.  he was a founding father of Alpha Kappa Epsilon Fraternity and Second President.  Joel graduated from Virginia Tech with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1963 and received a Master’s degree (MBA) in Business Administration and Economics from Auburn University in 1969.

Joel was a member of People’s Memorial Christian Church and Harvest Baptist Church in Burlington.  He taught Sunday School and Financial Literacy Classes at Green Street Baptist Church in High Point, NC.

Joel’s career included manufacturing operation positions with Altec Industries in Birmingham, AL, Rockwell International in Troy, MI and Pittsburgh, PA and retired as Vice-President of Operations at Zippo in Bradford, PA.  Joel was privileged to have traveled to many foreign countries in pursuit of state-of-the -art manufacturing technologies.  He was a manufacturing operations consultant at Touché Ross and many companies in the South East.

His hobbies included golf, running many 10Ks in the Houston and New York City Marathon, dancing, hiking, reading, traveling, movies and Virginia Tech and Auburn sports.  He also participated in several highly recognized auto racing schools.

After retirement, Joel was a long-time volunteer for Junior Achievement in Pittsburgh, PA and Greensboro.  He had a passion for teaching Financial Literacy and Business Success classes in middle and high schools in Guilford, Randolph, Alamance and Forsyth counties.  He especially enjoyed teaching the students his “Six-Steps to Retiring Rich” program.   Joel’s greatest joys in life have been his love for the Lord Jesus Christ, his beautiful wife, Pat, his sweet and loving children and grandchildren and his wonderful parents.

A service to celebrate Joel’s life will be held at 2:00pm on Monday, August 7, 2023 at Lowe Funeral Home Chapel by Rev. Larry Lamberth with the burial to follow at Alamance Memorial Park.  The family will receive friends from 12:30-1:45 prior to the service at the funeral home and other times at the home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to AuthoraCare Collective (Hospice) of Alamance-Caswell, 914 Chapel Hill Rd., Burlington, NC 27215.