Kate Elizabeth (Keene) Silva passed away Monday, January 31, 2022 in Suffolk, Virginia. She was born April 2, 1936 at Mt. Heron in Buchanan County, Virginia. She was the second of four children born to Earl Rufus Keene and Hattie Addison Keene. She had one older sister, Juanita, a younger sister, Sandra (Poochie), and one younger brother, H. M. Kate was named in honor of both of her grandmothers (Rosa Catherine Keene and Elizabeth Addison). She grew up in the remote mountains of Southwest Virginia as the daughter of a coal miner. In the mid-1940s, her family moved to Harman, Virginia where she attended the Cedar Grove and Harman schools. Her dad mined at the Harman Mining Company and her mom ran the Harman Mining clubhouse. They lived in a company house and she spent her days surrounded by the miners and their families, playing basketball, playing in the creeks, catching the bus to Grundy to go to the movies, and running around with her dear friend Alma Ruth (Woods) Rife. She attended Grundy High School, was a majorette, and graduated in the class of 1954.

On December 25, 1956, she married the love of her life, Frank Silva, at Buchanan First Presbyterian Church in Grundy. Around the time Frank began to work for Newport News Shipbuilding, they moved to Hampton, Virginia, where they would reside for nearly 30 years on Edwards Drive until moving to Cedar Point in Suffolk. Soon, their family grew and she had three sons, Mark, Brian, and Scott, to whom she was a wonderful, loving, devoted mother. She was "Mawmaw" to seven grandchildren, who she adored and were the light of her life: Whitney, Cody, Kayla, Alex, Logan, Rachel, and Cara, and one great-grandson who she said "was the cutest little thing" – Easton.

Kate loved her family dearly, and loved spending time with them, and talked about them often. She was a "non-stop" person, staying busy with something all the time. She loved to sit in her sunroom and read, as evidenced by the hundreds of books in her house. She enjoyed bargain shopping, a good glass of wine, canning green beans and making freezer jam with her sisters, watching Hallmark movies, and getting her weekly Virginia Mountaineer so she could keep up with what was going on back in her hometown.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Frank, her sister, Juanita Keene Coleman, and son, Scott Silva. Survivors include her sons, Mark Silva (Valerie) and Brian Silva (Kitty); grandchildren, Whitney Grandelis (Henry), Cody Silva, Kayla Smith (Nick), Alex Silva, Logan Silva, Rachel Silva, and Cara Lewis; great-grandson Easton Smith; sister Sandra Keene Dailey; brother and sister-in-law, H. M. and Rhonda Keene; aunt Lorraine Keene Williams; sisters-in-law, Betty Silva and Joyce O'Bryant (Ray); daughter-in-law Chrissy Silva; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

Visitation will be from 6 to 7 PM Thursday, February 3, 2022 at W. J. Smith & Son Funeral Home. A graveside service will be held at 3 PM Saturday, February 5, 2022 at Forest Hills Memory Gardens, Abingdon, Virginia.