Naoma Delores McMillin Silvan, age 88, left this world quickly, just as she wanted, on Nov. 21, 2021, while taking a Sunday afternoon nap.
She was born on Dec. 27, 1932, in Grand View, Idaho to Ralph Edward and Orpha Delores (Stephens) McMillin. Born in the heart of the Great Depression to sharecropper parents, the family moved often from place to place in Idaho searching for a better life; living in a sheepherder’s tent one winter and an abandoned shack another. She rode a horse to school, carrying a bucket of coal to heat the one-room schoolhouses. She was always the only student in her grade until the family moved to Naches, Washington where she graduated from Naches Valley High School in 1951.
She met her eternal love, Frank Elmer Silvan, on a blind double-date with her younger sister and Frank’s best friend. After a lengthy, long-distance courtship, while Frank was serving in the Korean War, they were married on July 22, 1951 in her grandmother’s backyard.
The couple moved to Aberdeen, Washington and built their own home on Aberdeen’s southside from the repurposed materials of a former brothel that the city sold them for one dollar on the condition that they demolish and clear the lot themselves. They welcomed six children into that home and after many additions and remodels, it is still considered the family homestead.
Naoma was a faithful and dedicated member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, serving in numerous callings and leadership positions throughout her life. She credited the power of faith and modern medicine for her recovery from ovarian cancer in 1989.
She and Frank served five missions for the church; the first at the Family History Library bookbindery in Salt Lake City, Utah; the second as caretakers at Zion’s Camp near Shelton, Washington. They returned home to serve their next three missions; as employment specialists in the Tacoma Mission, then as support missionaries to the Westport Branch, and finally as new member shepherds in the Grays Harbor Ward.
When her beloved “Elmer” became ill, she became his caregiver and they retired to a small apartment he had built attached to the family home. Naoma was a loving, caring and creative person, who spent her life making the world a better and more beautiful place. She loved gardening, her grandkids and her faith. She enjoyed spending many hours in her last years crafting and doing jigsaw puzzles with her daughters.
She was predeceased by her husband and all of her siblings: Allen Ralph McMillin, Ione LuCinda (Gotts), Myrna Delila (Mendoza), Maxine Emma (Frezzette), Sharon Louise (Buchel) and Stephen Grant McMillin. She is survived by her children and their spouses: Leslie Elmer (Glenna) Silvan, Magna, Utah; Gregory Ralph (Isabella) Silvan, Kennewick, Washington; LuCinda Delores (Donald) Gustavson, Springfield, Oregon;, Lora Lee (Scott) Prato, Aberdeen; Kristine (Shane) Naoma Massey, Chandler, Arizona and Melanie Johanna (Chris) Nicholson, Aberdeen; and a daughter-in-law Jennifer Weldon, Aberdeen. She is also survived by 20 grandchildren, 40 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
A viewing for family and friends will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 3, at the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, 2735 Riverview Drive, in Aberdeen’s Bench Drive area.
The funeral service will follow immediately at 11 a.m. at the same location with interment taking place in Fern Hill Cemetery, after the service.
Flowers may be sent to Fern Hill Funeral Home, 2208 Roosevelt St., Aberdeen WA 98520
Cards of condolence with a memory or a message may be sent to the family at www.fernhillfuneral.com.
