Obituaries

July 22, 1923 – October 3, 2017 Fred Silton immigrated to the United States in 1938 at the age of fifteen with his parents Regina and Herman Silberstein to escape the Nazi Anschluss in Vienna, Austria. He settled in St. Louis with his mother and father through the sponsorship of relatives and graduated high school before returning to Europe to serve as a communications officer in WWII. After the war, he followed his family’s move to Los Angeles and worked in the family outerwear company, Silton Brothers, which grew under his leadership into a large national brand. In the 1980s, he made a timely transition to real estate development and investment and created an extensive portfolio of high quality apartment buildings in the Westwood area. He was actively involved in managing his portfolio until just a few months ago, despite battling Parkinson’s for almost 15 years. His life’s work and journey were supported by his beautiful and devoted wife, Flora (d. 1994) with whom he had four children – Karen Balin (Barry), Debbi Cowan (Roger), Susan Silton and Jim Silton. He is also survived by six adoring grandchildren – Zach (Tracy Walsh) and Aevrey Balin, Jeff (Shannon) and Amanda Cowan, and Rachel and Blake Silton. He was remarried in 1997 to Lee Silton (d. 2016) with whom he shared passions for travel, art, and cultural activities. He was committed to honoring the less fortunate and contributed tirelessly to multiple charities, culminating in a gift to UCLA to endow a chair in Parkinson’s research. Dad’s vision, perseverance, and incredible work ethic brought him happiness as well as success, and his family is forever grateful for his love and guidance through his long life. We will miss him every day. Services will be held at Hillside Memorial Park on Sunday, October 8, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. Donations may be made in his honor to UCLA Neurology, c/o Movement Disorders, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095.