Wendy Barton Silhavy
September 18, 1966 – September 27, 2024
Wendy Barton Silhavy, 58, of Berwyn, IL, died peacefully on September 27, 2024. She was the Senior Coordinator for Liturgy and Music for the Archdiocese of Chicago. An accomplished musician, she received her degrees from Drake University in Des Moines, IA, and St. John’s University School of Theology in Collegeville, MN. A gifted organist, pianist, singer, flautist and conductor, she was a welcome and frequent presence at a number of parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Wendy will be remembered by parish ministers and clergy as a respected colleague, skilled workshop presenter, knowledgeable resource person and compassionate listener.
Growing up in rural Minnesota near Bemidji, she delighted in telling colleagues she would ride her horse to piano and organ lessons. She was less keen to recount the stories of being dropped off by the school bus on the way home from school in front of the funeral home so that she could play memorial services on the parlor organ.
While studying organ at Drake University, Wendy was music director at the Basilica of Saint John in Des Moines. Her graduate studies were taken at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN; she met her husband Michael there on the first day of Hymnody and Psalmody class. She served as a counselor and staff member at the inception of the National Catholic Youth Choir. She treasured her time at St. John’s; the academic and pastoral formation she received there, along with Benedictine values, shaped her personal and professional life.
Prior to moving to the Chicagoland area, she held positions as music and liturgy director for parishes in Missouri and Minnesota, most notably at Saint James Parish in Liberty, MO and Our Lady of Peace in Minneapolis, MN. Wendy shared in the artistic and administrative leadership of the American Pilgrimage Choir, which allowed for hundreds of singers from across the country to sing at cathedrals, churches, shrines, and holy places throughout the world. She served on the council of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians and was a frequent workshop and video presenter with her archdiocesan colleagues at Liturgy Training Publications. As one of the organists and pianists for Cardinal Cupich’s weekly televised cathedral mass, she became adept at choosing the precise amount of music needed for a broadcast mass lasting exactly 29:30.
Hobbies included travel, opera and concerts, gardening and cooking. For some inexplicable reason, Wendy and Michael welcomed five very large Alaskan Malamutes into their home over the years where they (mostly) brought great joy and happiness.
Her three-year battle with peritoneal cancer was tempered by her spirit and strength; even while in home hospice she continued to work until a few days before her death. Visitation and Vigil for the Deceased were held on October 3, 2024 at St. Paul VI Parish (St. Mary Church), Riverside, IL. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on October 4 at Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago. Inurnment at the cemetery at Saint John’s Abbey and University was on November 15, 2024.
Tribute adapted from her obituary.